


Stay by my side

by Aluce02



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Car Accident, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Major Character Injury, Mutual Pining, Sad, Sorry Not Sorry, idk how to tag help me, nvm yes i am
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-06
Updated: 2017-01-04
Packaged: 2018-05-18 07:15:33
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 20,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5904520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aluce02/pseuds/Aluce02
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kageyama could feel his stomach in his throat as the elevator slowly ascended. "Why is it so slow?!" Yamaguchi grumbled. Clearly that was what everyone was thinking because the entire team mumbled in agreement. Two floors up the doors opened to a crowd of people who seemed mildly annoyed that none of the team got out. </p><p>"Sorry, family matter." Kiyoko told the other people from where she stood at the very front of the elevator.</p><p>Kageyama realized that was exactly what this was. Karasuno Volleyball Club was a family just as much as they were a team and that meant they had to be there for each other. This thought only made the elevator go slower for Kageyama and the others.</p><p>An old woman and one nurse fit in the elevator with them. Kageyama could feel Yachi shaking next to him. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, tears already brimming in her eyes. What felt like eons later, the elevator opened to the fourth floor, the team rushing out and down the hall till they found the room the nurse had given them. They had been so eager to get there before, but now that they were standing outside the door they all seemed hesitant to go in.<br/>//<br/>The sad car crash au fic no one asked for.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Accident

**Author's Note:**

> This required more research than I would have liked lol.  
> It's sad though...  
> 

Hinata saw the little green ball before his mother did. The dog saw his ball before he saw the car. The little girl saw her dog before she saw the car. Hinata yelled and felt the car jerk as his mother swerved to miss all three of them. Hinata remembered seeing the scared look on the little girl's face and feeling sorry for her before his head was filled with the awful sound of metal being crushed, glass shattering, and wood snapping.

Then he was sucked into the cool pool of unconsciousness. He felt himself shiver before everything went black. He couldn't feel anything but he knew the pain was there. It crept up on him slowly like storm clouds over the horizon. Each little movement sent a new wave of pain through him yet the only thought he could process was "Is okaasan okay?" Hinata struggled to gain consciousness, pain shooting up and down his body.

In the back of the ambulance he was finally ripped from his sleep, eyes slowly peeling open. Hinata realized he couldn't move his neck and began to panic. "Hey, he's waking up!" someone declared like he had just committed treason.

"Okaasan-" Hinata mumbled as he reached up to pull at whatever was around his throat. Someone grabbed his hand but he was too drained to pull away.

"It's okay Shoyou. I'm here honey." It was his mother's voice.

Hinata tried to remember what he had been doing when he got knocked out. It had been right after breakfast and his mother had been taking him somewhere. School? No definitely not. The store? No he could get there by himself. Then his mother gave him the answer. "I called Oba. She's keeping Natsu till tonight. They're gonna meet us at the hospital." she reassured him.

"The hospital?" he asked. His mind was still foggy, the idea that this intense pain all up and down his body would need hospitalization hadn't occurred to him just yet.

"Yes Shoyou. The hospital honey. Tylenol and rest won't fix this." his mother sounded distressed. Hinata remembered the many times he had gotten sick or injured and his mother had cured it with tylenol and sitting him down in front of the TV.

Then he remembered his plans for the afternoon. "Kageyama." he mumbled and reached toward the thing on his neck again. It was really uncomfortable.

"Don't pull that off Shoyou." was all his mother said.

"Practice-" Hinata started again but his mother interrupted him, "No honey, you won't be practicing for quite some time." If he hadn't been so out of it Hinata would have better understood what his mother was telling him.

"I need..." he started but his words trailed off.

"I'm sorry Shoyou but there will be no volleyball till you're all better." he felt her brush a couple strands of hair away from his forehead. Hinata began to feel light headed. He closed his eyes and grimaced, the ambulance jolting and sending waves of fiery pain through his back and legs.

"Shoyou don't fall asleep honey. We're almost to the hospital." his mother told him but he didn't listen. He drifted off to sleep so deep he could almost imagine the pain was gone. Then the ambulance would turn and he would whimper again.

When Hinata woke up again, he was laying in a white room, the sheets over his body stark white making him look tanner than normal. He could feel his head pounding, the people around him filling vials and pouring things from tubes into little bags. He started to ask a nurse why she had just shoved a needle into his hand when he doubled over coughing. His lungs burned like they were filled with liquid fire. Someone yelled something and more liquid was poured into the bag hanging by his bed.

His mother was by his side then, holding Hinata's phone to her ear. She looked sad and Hinata remembered why. It was scary how clearly he could see the accident in his head. The sound had been horrible, the pain in his legs and back nearly unbearable as he struggled. He had begun to panic.

"Oh Shoyou! You're awake!" his mother's eyes lit up but fell again as Hinata coughed again. "It's Kageyama." she said holding the phone out towards him. Hinata reached for it, eager to talk to his partner but he quickly pulled away to cover his mouth as he coughed. His mother put the phone back to her ear like she was going to talk to Kageyama but turned to a nurse instead. "Are his lips supposed to be that blue?!" she seemed worried as Hinata laid back down. He was already exhausted.

A nurse yelled something about an X-ray before Hinata closed his eyes again. In his sleep he dreamed he was drowning, his lungs filling with cold water as he struggled to choke it back up, gasping for air.

~Kageyama~

Kageyama was on his way to meet Hinata for some extra practice when he got a call from the aforementioned friend. He swiped at his phone screen as he walked into the gym, not at all surprised to see his other teammates there on their day off. "Don't tell me you're running late."he said holding the phone to his ear. Tanaka ran past him, Nishinoya following closely and yelling something about his shorts. It took Kageyama about as long to realize something was wrong as it took him to realize Nishinoya didn't have his pants on and Tanaka was waving them above his head as he ran.

"Hinata?" Kageyama began to stretch with his phone still pressed to his ear.

"Kageyama-kun, Shoyou can't make it today." Hinata's mother seemed very distressed, her voice rough like she had been crying.

"Is he okay?" Kageyama stood straight his face giving away to his teammates that something was up.

"Yes-no... I don't know." she admitted.

"What happened?" Kageyama waved his hand to shut up the whispers of the boys around him.

"There was an... accident." Kageyama could feel his heart crawling up into his throat and he swallowed, trying to keep it down.

"What kind of accident?" he asked slowly. He glanced helplessly at the worried faces around him.

"A... uh...I-I," then she broke down in tears, "I didn't see the dog and I know I couldn't control it but I can't help feeling it's my fault and I feel awful because all I got was a little scratch on my cheek from a piece of the windshield and Shoyou is slipping in and out of consciousness and if I had only paid closer attention I could have stopped but I didn't i'm his mother for God's sake i'm supposed to protect him and obviously I failed because he's got half the medical staff running in and out of his room," Kageyama stood, face void of emotion as he let Hinata's mother explain things in her own panicky way.

"You know the first thing he said when he woke up in the ambulance was "Okaasan" and oh did that felt awful because he was strapped to a gurney and his first thought was if I was okay and then he started mumbling about practice and I realized I had practically ruined his life he's going to be so devastated when he realizes he can't play-" Kageyama finally cut in.

"Calm down Okaasan! What do you mean? What happened?" Kageyama felt his teammates eyes on him as he stared at the floor.

"A dog ran out in front of the car and I probably wouldn't have tried to swerve so much if a little girl hadn't run out behind it but I did and we crashed into some trees and Shoyou's really hurt." she choked out before sobbing.

"Is Hinata awake right now?" he asked. She hiccuped and he heard her shuffle, then she made a pleased noise.

"Oh Shoyou! You're awake!" she exclaimed. Kageyama could hear awful hacking in the background and Hinata's mother sounded much less excited when she told Hinata it was him on the phone. Kageyama perked up a bit at the thought of talking to Hinata but after a moment of silence her heard the sickly coughing again, another second of silence before Hinata's mother said, "Are his lips supposed to be that blue?!" probably to someone else in the room. Then a man's voice yelled something about an X-ray.

After a couple minutes of trying to calm her down, Kageyama got Hinata's mother to tell him what hospital they were at. It turned out they had went straight to the local hospital which was in walking distance of the school. Kageyama made sure it was okay that they came before leaving the woman to her hysterias.

"Kageyama what's going on?" Daichi asked, his voice authoritative but worried.

"I don't quite know but it doesn't sound good. I'm leaving for the hospital." Kageyama pocketed his phone as a chorus of voices called out, asking to come with him. He couldn't help breaking into a run, his heart pounding with every step as he closed the distance between him and his supposedly dying best friend.

Kageyama figured they looked pretty strange, eleven high schoolers running down the street, nine boys dressed in gym clothes and two girls in sweatpants and jackets with logos that matched that on the boys uniforms. They burst into the hospital, startling more than a few people milling about in the entrance way. "Hinata Shoyou." Sugawara gasped out as he reached the man at the desk. He gave them a room number and a floor and Ennoshita thanked him and they hurried, packing into the elevator.

Kageyama could feel his stomach in his throat as the elevator slowly ascended. "Why is it so slow?!" Yamaguchi grumbled. Clearly that was what everyone was thinking because the entire team mumbled in agreement. Two floors up the doors opened to a crowd of people who seemed mildly annoyed that none of the team got out.

"Sorry, family matter." Kiyoko told the other people from where she stood at the very front of the elevator.

Kageyama realized that was exactly what this was. Karasuno Volleyball Club was a family just as much as they were a team and that meant they had to be there for each other. This thought only made the elevator go slower for Kageyama and the others.

An old woman and one nurse fit in the elevator with them. Kageyama could feel Yachi shaking next to him. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet, tears already brimming in her eyes. What felt like eons later, the elevator opened to the fourth floor, the team rushing out and down the hall till they found the room the nurse had given them. They had been so eager to get there before, but now that they were standing outside the door they all seemed hesitant to go in.

"Guys, what if Hinata is actually hurt?" Nishinoya asked as they all stood facing the closed door. They could hear machines beeping on the other side.

Tanaka said, "I'm just waiting for him to walk out and start laughing like, "Haha you guys thought I was actually hurt! I just wanted to see you guys haul ass to get down here."" but the door didn't open.

Hesitantly Asahi reached for the doorknob but Tsukishima blurted out, "Wait!" All eyes turned to him at the back of the group near the wall. "What if he isn't that hurt? What if he's just got a broken arm?" at first Kageyama was mad. Then he realized Tsukishima wasn't being insensitive, his voice was hopeful, like he was trying to boost their spirits.

Kageyama remembered what Hinata's mother had told him about Hinata slipping in and out of consciousness and having half the medical staff rushing in and out of his room and he figured it was a little worse than a broken arm but he decided against telling them that.

"How bad could it really be?" Tanaka asked and turned the knob. The door pulled itself open and the group jumped back in surprise, Yachi grabbing onto Kageyama's arm as people clad in purple scrubs and white coats rushed out of the room. The bed they pulled along with them had a tiny figure made to look even tinier in the giant bed. A nurse sat on the bed straddling Hinata's abdomen leaning over him as people shouted orders.

"Hurry up with that ventilator!" Someone in white yelled and the team watched in horror as the nurse on Hinata shoved a tube down his throat. Then she connected it to a big green bag and began to squeeze.

As they hurried down the hall Kageyama could here the lady on Hinata's chest yell something about his blood pressure dropping. Another nurse yelled, "Probably a pneumothorax. We're gonna have to insert that chest tube after all." then they disappeared around the corner.

"Pneumothorax?" Ennoshita asked.

"Collapsed lung." Kiyoko provided, tears brimming in her eyes.

"Did she have to be so aggressive with that breathing tube?" Asahi asked. A collective shiver ran through the team. So they were just as traumatized by it as Kageyama. That was a comforting thought. They all turned as at the same time, the little whimper coming from the room drawing their attention. It was Hinata's mother.

"Okaasan!" Kageyama rushed forward and she accepted his embrace.

Hinata's mother had just broken Kageyama of his habit of calling her by her formal name. Instead she told him to call her Okaasan just as Hinata and Natsu did. She told him Natsu called him Niichan and he called her Naachan so it only fit that he called her Okaasan. He had told her as long as he didn't have to call Hinata Niichan he was alright with that. She had laughed a bubbly little laugh, one that reminded him of Hinata's.

At that moment, either of those laughs would have been extremely welcome.

"They're putting a tube in his chest." she sobbed into his shoulder. "They're cutting a hole in his chest and putting a tube in so they can drain the fluid out of his pleural sac. I didn't even know what that was till a second ago and now they're shoving a tube in it!" Kageyama soothed the heartbroken woman as she rambled on about her son. The team came in and sat or stood. They all fidgeted, waiting to see if they'd come back with Hinata.

"Both his legs! Both his legs broken and he fractured a bone in his back. You don't realize how painful being a mother really is till people are pulling glass out of your child's abdomen and you have to be the one to cover his mouth and feel him whimper against your hand." Kageyama shuddered at the thought. Over her shoulder he could see the team, hands over their mouths some to keep from gasping and others to try and hold in the sobs. He could see the horrified looks on their faces as they thought about Hinata crying as glass was plucked from his stomach.

"When's Natsu getting here?" Kageyama asked but immediately regretted open his mouth.

"Oh what am I going to do about Natsu?! I can't keep sweet little girl from her Niichan but she's just too rowdy. Not even I could touch him beside holding his hand and covering his mouth, how is she going to react when she can't jump on him or lay next to him?" Kageyama looked around desperately at his friends. Kiyoko stood and wiped the tears off her face before putting her hand on the weeping woman's shoulder.

"Why don't we go down to the gift shop. See if we can find anything Shoyou would like." Hinata's mother nodded and let go of Kageyama.

"Be good Kageyama." she told him and patted his back.

"Yes Okaasan." he replied. She gave him a little smile before letting Kiyoko lead her out of the room.

Kageyama tried to swallow the lump in his throat as he threw himself next to Daichi on the second hospital bed. He closed his eyes, proud of himself for not crying in front of the team but when he opened his eyes again he saw tears in even Tsukishima's eyes. And just like like he went from dry eyed to crying into his hands, silently covering his face as he laid back on the bed. He could barely hear someone talking quietly over the phone. Click.

Asahi said "That was sensai calling to see where we went. Apparently when the gym is empty but all our stuff is there it's extremely worrying." The team merely nodded.

"What did you tell him?" Ennoshita asked.

"The truth. Him and coach Ukai are on their way."Asahi shoved his phone back into his pocket.

Eyes were dry by the time Takeda and Ukai got to the hospital but Hinata still wasn't back. It was just Kageyama's luck that he would be the only one having trouble falling asleep in the uncomfortable bed or in one of the stiff chairs. It was also his luck he would drift off to sleep as soon as they wheeled Hinata's bed back into the room.

"Well someone seems popular." a voice said and Kageyama's eyes snapped open.

A man in a white lab coat and a woman in purple scrubs stood on the other side of Hinata's bed. "Didn't mean to wake you sorry." the man apologized. It took Kageyama a moment to clear his mind and then another moment to realize Hinata was back.

He practically jumped over Daichi in his hurry to see his friend. The sound of him knocking a cup off the side table woke the rest of his team up.

Kageyama was first to the side of Hinata's bed. The first thing he noticed was that the tube in Hinata's throat was gone and instead he had little plastic prongs in his nose that lead to a machine. The second thing he noticed was that Hinata didn't have a shirt on, a large bandage covering the left side of his chest. A tube led from the middle of the bandage to a machine next to the one helping Hinata breath. The third thing Kageyama noticed was that Hinata's eyes were open.

And he was _smiling_ at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hit me up on Tumblr @princesshinataa <333


	2. Essential to winning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> To Ella who commented on the last chapter: You're welcome for this sad ride we are hoping on together. I know where this story is going and you don't and for that, I commend your bravery. Hopefully your soul comes back soon but with this story who knows...
> 
> Warning: This chapter was written while listening to the saddest of my sad playlists on Spotify. You have been warned.

"Did you see my casts?" Hinata asked excitedly once his mother left to meet his grandparents in the entrance and collect Natsu.

They all shook their heads and Hinata pulled back the bed covers. Underneath he was wearing fluffy pajama pants covered in volleyballs that were rolled up to his calves. From the thighs down he had two white casts that reached all the way to his toes. A black brace is wrapped around the lower part of his back.

There were lines of stitches all over his abdomen and chest varying in length, from half an inch to some as long as three inches. Kageyama grimaced, remembering what Hinata's mother had told them about the nurses plucking pieces of windshield from Hinata's abdomen.

"How are you feeling?" Yachi asked, her face filled with caution like she's not sure she wants to know.

"Both my legs are broken, I've fractured a bone in my back, and there's a hole in my chest, but I was promised all the ice cream I want so that almost makes up for it." He seemed unusually cheery for someone who was in a car accident only a couple hours ago. The doctor laughed and reminded him not strain himself. Then he leaned and whispered something in Ukai's ear before leaving.

"What was that all about?" Daichi asked.

"He was warning me that some of the medications Hinata is on causes slight mood swings when taken at the same time. He said it should only last till his body gets used to the medicines." Kageyama didn't see why he had felt the need to whisper it, they weren't children.  _How bad could it be anyway?_ He thought. He turned back to a broken hearted looking Hinata. Apparently it could be pretty bad.

"Really?" he asked. He looked so sad Kageyama was afraid he'd start crying.

He was just wondering what Hinata would do if they mentioned volleyball when Tsukishima said, "I guess that means you can't play volleyball for like six weeks right?"

It was Tsukishima being himself, Hinata would have got that if he was okay, but the medicine pumping into his veins from one of the many IVs on his arm seemed to be blocking the part of his mind that reminded him of this.

Hinata's eyes started to water, his lip quivering in that way that made Kageyama's heart contract. He and half the team stared daggers at Tsukishima who only looked half sorry for what he had said.

"I-I..." Hinata burst into tears, grabbing Kageyama's arm and sobbing into his jacket sleeve. Kageyama could feel tears soaking through onto his skin. He wasn't sure what to do to comfort him so he stroked Hinata's hair awkwardly as he glared at Tsukishima.

"Tsuki that was very uncool." Yamaguchi told him. Only then did Tsukishima seem ashamed of what he had done.

"It's okay Hinata! You'll be practicing again in no time!" Suga tried desperately to calm Hinata down. Daichi joined in and Ukai looked lost as to how the two seventeen year olds were so much like parents.

Kageyama wasn't expecting what Hinata said next. It turned his bad day into a... well, worse day.

Hinata was still clinging to his arm and Kageyama was still petting him gingerly. Hinata pulled away from his arm a bit and looked up at Kageyama who forgot his was on Hinata's head and kept it there for a second before dropping it. The look Hinata gave him made Kageyama hold his breath as he waited, his heart beating so hard he feared the others could hear it. And then Hinata said it.

"Did I let you down?" he whispered his voice hoarse, a look of pain on his face but Kageyama couldn't tell if it was from the hole in his chest or the thought of failing Kageyama.

"N-No. Of course not!" Kageyama felt like he was melting. The look Hinata gave him made his cheeks burn.

"But im not essential to winning anymore." he whimpered. Kageyama winced remembering what he had told him before they had been friends.

"You're still essential to winning Hinata." Kageyama reassured him and Hinata gave a small nod. He didn't look like he believed him.

Kageyama was saved from anymore heart wrenching questions when Natsu raced in. She paused seeing she couldn't jump into Hinata's or Kageyama's arms so she compromised and jumped into Tanaka's who was standing next to Kageyama by the bed. "Niichans, Okaasan has promised ice cream!" her smile dissolved into a frown when she saw Hinata was crying. "Niichan what's wrong?"

Hinata wiped furiously at his eyes and shook his head, "Nothing Natsu." Had Natsu been older she probably wouldn't have believed him but she was still five, the age where her brother could do no wrong and so she nodded.

Then Natsu leaned into Tanaka and whispered not-so-quietly in his ear, "What's on Niichan's chest?"

"A bandage." Tanaka whispered back just as loud.

"What's poking out of it?"

"A tube."

"Why?"

"To drain the fluid from his chest."

"Does it have to be there?"

"Only if your Niichan wants to be able to breath."

"And the thingys on his nose. Are they for breathing too?"

"Yup."

They were all silent till Natsu had gotten the complete run down from Tanaka. The entire time she didn't say a word to anyone else but once Tanaka had finished she looked at Hinata and sighed, "Poor Niichan."

Hinata looked like he was going to cry again as he fiddled with the breathing tubes in his nose, one hand still holding onto Kageyama's sleeve. A familiar looking nurse came in a second later and looked around at all of them. She seemed slightly disgruntled as she pulled an IV bag off its hook and began to refill it. She picked Hinata's hand up off Kageyama's arm and examined his IVs.

"Don't mess with that." she reminded him. Hinata either didn't hear her or didn't care because he continued to fiddle with the tubes in his nose as he stared up at Kageyama.

"Hinata Shoyou if you pull that out I will give you a ventilator tube." she threatened. Kageyama was appalled.  _Is this how she talks to all her patients?_ he wondered.

Hinata dropped his hand and gave her a pleading look. "Don't think I won't do it." she warned him.

"Yes Hana." he dropped his head.

"Do you know her?" Nishinoya asked after she had left.

"It's just my luck that i'd get stuck with my mean cousin as a nurse." Hinata pouted. Kageyama felt bad for him. Not just because of the car crash but because of his nurse, and because of volleyball and, yes, because of the crash.

~Hinata~

Kageyama was there long after the rest of the team had left. He was there after Hinata's mother had left to take Natsu to her babysitters and go to work("Medical bills don't pay themselves"she had told them) and he was there after Hinata had fallen asleep. He was there when Tsukishima brought Hinata's school work("Figures you'd get out of end of the the year exams." he had huffed). He was there when Hinata had been texting Kenma and Bokuto, he was there when Hinata needed someone to take a picture to send them. 

"Kenma says Kuroo convinced his mom to bring them to visit and Bokuto's talking to his mom." Hinata told a half awake Kageyama. Kageyama just nodded.

"Does your mom know you're here?" the thought had suddenly occurred to him. He hadn't seen Kageyama on the phone with anyone the entire time he was there.

"I called her while you were sleeping." Kageyama sat up in the second bed where he was lying. "Called my dad too but he didn't answer." Hinata knew of Kageyama's trouble with his dad so he didn't ask.

The last time Kageyama had been to Hinata's house they had been digging through boxes of old photos in the basement. Hinata had just put down a picture of him with cake on his face from his third birthday when Kageyama held up a framed picture. The glass had a spider web of cracks in the bottom right corner and the picture was faded but Hinata had known what it was. It was the photo his mother had taken of him and his father the day after Natsu had been born. They were standing in the front yard, his father's hand on his shoulder as they smiled matching grins at the camera.

"Is this your dad?" Kageyama had asked. Hinata had shook his head meekly, trying to keep his eyes off the picture. "My dad doesn't live with us anymore." Kageyama explained that his father had left because of another woman but insisted on Kageyama visiting him twice a month. Hinata and Kageyama didn't talk about their fathers much any more.

Hinata didn't realize he had been staring at Kageyama but Kageyama had been staring back. He turned away, cheeks heating up. Hana walked in with her little clipboard, ready to take his vitals and check his chest tube. 

"Day twelve!" Hinata rasped out dramatically, "I still haven't been able to leave my bed. The sorrow! THE BOREDOM!" he wailed. Kageyama laughed loudly and Hana sighed.

"You have a tube sticking out of your chest Hinata." she reminded him. As if he had forgotten.

"Look how tiny that thing is!" Hinata threw his hand in the direction of the machine his chest tube was connected to. "Why can't I just get up?"

"You have two broken legs."

"There are these things called wheelchairs."

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to get up."

"Wheel. Chair."

"I'm not pushing you."

"I have Kageyama for that."

Kageyama didn't look like he liked the idea of pushing Hinata around but he didn't say no so Hinata took it as his unwilling cooperation.

"I-" Hana started but sighed. "Let me do my paperwork. Then i'll go get you a wheelchair."

Hinata laughed triumphantly as Hana began to scribble on her board.

When she was done she made him let her listen to his breathing before leaving. A moment later she came back with a wheelchair and Kageyama helped her move Hinata's IV lines to the IV pole attached to the wheelchair. Hana picked up his ventilator and attached it to the side. Then they helped Hinata into the seat. Hana gave them a skeptical look before leaving.

"Where to first?" Kageyama looked bored as he grabbed the handles of Hinata's wheelchair.

"Don't look so sad. This'll be fun." Hinata tried to convince him.

"I liked you better when you were crying."

"So you like petting my hair?"

"T-That's not what I meant by that!" Kageyama spluttered as he opened the door.

Hinata hoped his cheeks weren't as red as he thought they were. Kageyama pushed Hinata down the hall in silence.

Then he said, "Are you feeling okay Hinata?" they had barely made it down the hall. For some reason the hallway hadn't gotten crowded till they had decided to leave.

"Yes." this was a lie. In truth, Hinata felt like he couldn't get enough air in his lungs and breathing felt like a job rather than natural. He knew Kageyama knew it was a lie. Kageyama stopped the wheelchair in the middle of the hallway and walked in front, bending down so he was eye to eye with Hinata.

"No you're not." he told him. Kageyama gave him a worried look and Hinata realized he had looked more stressed and worried in the past couple hours than he had ever seen him.

"I know." Hinata whispered. His breathing was rapidly speeding up. Kageyama reached up slowly and touched Hinata's bottom lip with his finger.

"Your lips are blue." Kageyama told him. He ran his thumb over Hinata's lip before blushing and dropping his hand. Hinata's heart was beating fast but he didn't know if it was medical related or how close Kageyama was. Hinata would have wheeled himself back to his room right then if he wasn't suddenly extremely tired.

"Take me back to my room?" he mumbled and closed his eyes. He felt Kageyama's hand on his arm but he thought he may have imagined it because a second later it was gone and he heard the squeak of the wheels as they turned around and headed back for his room.

Hinata was almost asleep by the time they got back and he was only vaguely aware of the buzzing sound as Kageyama pressed the button to call for his nurse. Kageyama didn't try to lift him back in the bed by himself. Hinata felt a hand in his and he opened his eyes to see Kageyama's blue ones staring back at him. "You can't sleep just yet." Kageyama squeezed his hand and Hinata nodded.

Hinata was breathing quickly, and he could barely keep his eyes open as Hana rushed back in with a doctor at her heels. He could barely stay awake as they lifted him back to his bed. He shivered as the cold stethoscope was pressed to his bare chest. 

~Kageyama~

 Hinata visibly shivered as Dr.Eito pressed the stethoscope to his chest. Kageyama felt Hinata's fingers curl around his as they listened to his lungs. 

"Definitely some crackling sounds. Run a CT scan and monitor his oxygen levels. If need be, go ahead and use the ventilator tube again but for now put a mask on him." Hana nodded and rushed out behind Dr.Eito.

A moment later she came back with a tray. She pulled the tubes from his nose and placed the mask over his face. Hana tapped her foot nervously as she examined a monitor next to the bed. "How was his breathing before we got here? Was he tired?" Kageyama jumped at the sound of her voice. He had been paying attention to the uneven falling and rising of Hinata's chest.

"Um yeah," he hoped his cheeks weren't as red as they felt, "He kept trying to fall asleep and he was breathing really quickly." Kageyama didn't feel like himself. He didn't care for much but when something he did care about was damaged it was like he was a different person. Around the thing he cared about anyway.

 _Did I just admit to caring about Hinata?!_ it had been in his head but Kageyama had heard it and that was enough for him. He sighed so loud Hana turned around and asked if he was okay. 

Hana let Kageyama follow as they took the CT scans of Hinata's chest and showed him the spots where there was fluid in his lungs.

"And it's called..." Kageyama paused as he tried to remember what Hana had told him.

"Acute respiratory distress syndrome." she offered.

"Yeah that."

Hana explained that ARDS was life threatening so Hinata would be moved to the ICU. 

"How life threatening?" Kageyama swallowed as he stared at his feat.

"ARDS is a rapidly developing condition in which the lung is injured to the point where it can't properly do its job of moving air in and out of the blood. ARDS can occur when a major injury or extreme inflammation somewhere in the body damages the small blood vessels, including those in the lungs. As a result, the lungs are unable to fill with air and can't move enough oxygen into the bloodstream. No oxygen in the blood leads to organ failure." Hana explained to him.

Kageyama just nodded. Hana called Hinata's mom and set up a private room in the ICU where Kageyama eventually fell asleep. He didn't sleep long though because every two hours for six hours Hana came back in to check on Hinata until finally she decided he wasn't getting oxygen. Kageyama waited the longest fifteen minutes of his life as they inserted the tube.

Unlike the last time he had seen it, they inserted the breathing tube in the operating room with anesthesia instead of in the hallway while they rushed to put a tube in Hinata's chest. Kageyama's mother came back before Hinata did. She gave him his homework and asked if he was sure he wanted to stay because, unlike Hinata, he didn't have a medical emergency keeping him from taking the exams in a couple days and would be made to take them eventually.

He said he was staying.

"Well I want to see him." she said and sat down in the second seat. Kageyama sighed and curled up in the chair, wrapping his arms around his knees and resting his chin on them. He wasn't exactly as small as Hinata so the fit in the chair was a bit awkward.

"Is this all you've done the past day and a half?" Kageyama's mom asked.

"Sit and wait for Hinata to come back from the operating room? No, it's mostly been sitting and waiting for his meds to wear off so I can talk with him for the few minutes it takes Hana to give him more." Kageyama didn't mean for it to sound as sad as it did.

"Oh honey." his mother rubbed his back sympathetically.

When Hinata got back, Kageyama heard his mother gasp. He looked up and realized how depressing Hinata looked. He was still only wearing his pajama pants which had slid halfway down his casts, the skin around his back brace turning pink from the pressure. His stitches were a nasty shade of red. Somehow the simple change of tubes in his nose to a tube down his throat made the image that more horrifying.

Thick white tape ran across his cheeks and around his head, holding the tube in place. Kageyama knew his mother had seen Hinata play before and seeing him the bed motionless must have been something she never thought she would witness. Hana walked over and put her hand on Kageyama's shoulder.

"Kageyama-kun, if we decide he's still not getting enough air I don't think you want to be here after his tracheostomy." she told him

"His what?" the term sounded familiar to Kageyama but he couldn't remember if he had heard it from one of the many nurses and doctors he had seen in the past day and a half, or if he had heard it somewhere outside the hospital.

"The breathing tube is inserted directly into his trachea through an incision in his neck." Kageyama felt like he was going to be sick.

"Tobio why don't we just leave?" his mother asked.

"How long till he wakes up?" Kageyama ignored the worried look his mother was giving him.

"The medicine will make him too drowsy to open his eyes but he should be awake by morning." Hana stood and watched with them as other nurses checked Hinata's vitals and hooked up the machines.

"I'm staying till then." Kageyama insisted after a moment.

His mother kissed his cheek and patted Hinata's arm gingerly before following Hana out of the room. Kageyama scooted his chair closer to Hinata's bed and took one of his hands in his own.

"Some way to spend the last week fo school huh?" he mumbled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for all the P.O.V changes it's really hard to get both their emotions and reactions for the same experiences.  
> Tumblr: Pjoandchill


	3. The Tokyo Boys

~Kenma~

"How did I end up having to take the bus with you three?" Kenma asked. He sat in between Akaashi and Kuroo. On Kuroo's other side sat Bokuto and on Akaashi's other side was Lev. 

Akaashi sighed and nodded. Bokuto and Kuroo were loudly conversing over Bokuto's Ghostbusters shirt. "You look good but it doesn't really match your shorts." Kuroo noted.

"It looks fine with my shorts!" Bokuto protested.

"I agree with Kuroo." Lev called leaning out in the isle to see around Akaashi and Kenma.

"You only agree with him because he's your captain." Akaashi accused as he flipped open his book.

"No-" Lev started.

"Yes." Kenma cut him off. Kenma put his headphones in before Lev could protest again.

The ride to the hospital was long, the boys switching buses several times. "He better enjoy our visit we're missing practice for this." Bokuto grumbled.

"Bokuto he's in the hospital you could juggle Lev, Kenma, and Akaashi and he wouldn't fully enjoy it." Kuroo reminded him. Bokuto nodded like Kuroo had made a good point. 

"Look! Look!" Lev yelled annoying more than a few passengers, Kenma and Akaashi included. "It's Karasuno!" he yelled pointing out the window. The boys turned. Sure enough, there was Karasuno High School in all it's old school, country glory.

"Do you think we can see someone we know?" Lev asked.

"Well they do go to school there and it is a school day so if we were going to see them anywhere I think it would be here." Kuroo told him.

"Or the hospital." Kenma added. Lev sat back in his seat quietly. 

"Yeah." he huffed, "Or the hospital."

Kenma didn't always try to be a downer but sometimes that was the way things worked out. Kenma wasn't as interested in the outside world as his friend's were and he played his game as the others ogled at the fields and tiny shops and farmer's markets. "Everything is so much tinier when you're out of the city." Bokuto mused as they passed another rice field.

Finally the bus dropped them off as close to the hospital as it got. They would have gotten lost if Akaashi hadn't used some common sense and brought a map. The entrance to the hospital wasn't as shiny as the ones they had seen in Tokyo. The man at the front desk looked bored as they walked up. 

"We're looking for Hinata Shoyou." Kuroo told him. The man nodded and clicked a few things on his computer screen before squinting at them. 

"Hinata Shoyou isn't supposed to have visitors right now." he said. The boys looked at each other. What were they supposed to do now? They couldn't just go home. Then a pretty orange haired lady came over. The bandana bow holding her messy hair out of her eyes was orange and black polka dotted.

"Did I hear someone was here to visit my Shoyou?" she asked.

Akaashi and Kuroo nodded. "Your Shoyou?" Bokuto asked.

"I'm his nurse. And his cousin." she added as an afterthought. "He should be waking up soon. I'm sure he could survive a couple visitors." she turned to the man at the desk.

"I'm just reading what you wrote." he said defensively.

"I was just about to check his vitals. I'll take you guys up there." Kenma read the badge hanging from her hip. Hana Hinata.

Kuroo, Bokuto, and Lev were practically bouncing off the walls as they headed towards the elevator with Hana. "Oh this is great! I haven't seen Hinata since our last practice match." Kuroo said and Bokuto and Lev nodded.

"That was two weeks ago." Kenma reminded Kuroo.

"Well it feels like forever. I miss trying to block his spikes." Bokuto and Lev nodded again. Kenma thought about bobble heads as they nodded along with everything.

"Tell me," Hana started as they got in the elevator. "Is Shoyou good at volleyball?" she asked as she held the door open for a couple more people.

"They don't call him the Ultimate Decoy for nothing." Akaashi told her.

"Number one shortie." Bokuto added.

"Mini Spider man." Said Lev.

"As soon as he walks on the court you can hear it all through the gymnasium." Kenma looked up from his game as Kuroo spoke, "Everyone knows who he is."

"Sitting in the stands is hilarious! All you hear is "Look! Karauno's number ten!" and then they start gossiping about his "God fast" spike." Bokuto said as the doors dinged open on the fourth floor.

Hana laughed, "Sounds like he was pretty good." She pulled a clip board off a hook on the nurse's station and flipped to the second page. "Oh I hope Kageyama's gone. He's not gonna like this." she mumbled.

"Kageyama's here?" Lev asked.

"Hasn't left." Kenma had thought Hinata hadn't looked too bad in the photo. _So why had Kageyama stayed?_ He shared a worried look with his friends.

Hana lead them down a hallway before pushing open the doors that read "ICU". Kenma put his game in his pocket. The three loud mouths were still convinced they'd get to hang out with Hinata. Hana knocked on the last door in the hallway. No answer. "They're probably not even awake yet." Hana pushed the door open a crack and peeked inside. She started to step in when something started to ding.

She looked down at her hip. "I'm getting paged to another room. You guys can go ahead and go on in. If Shoyou is awake tell him i'll be in with his meds in a couple minutes." They all nodded and Hana headed quickly back the way they had come. 

Bokuto and Kuroo were the first in, smiling like idiots but their faces quickly fell. Kenma was the last in and the last to see what they were so horrified by. Hinata looked the same as he had in the picture he had sent but now they could see the stitches that littered his chest. The skin above his brace was red and he had about five IV lines in his arm. A patch on his chest was monitoring his heart and a breathing tube was being held in place by tape across his face.

He looked absolutely sickly. His skin the same pale color as the bed sheets. There was sweat on his cheeks, the tube in his chest looked even more menacing in person. 

"What the f-" Bokuto started. Akaashi elbowed him in the side. That was when Kenma noticed Kageyama. He had a chair pulled close to the bed. His head was resting on one arm the other arm bent at an odd angle as held Hinata's tiny hand. He was drooling on his arm. They were all quiet till an alarm went off. The boys jumped and looked around but Kageyama and Hinata slept through it.

"How are they still asleep?" Lev asked when the alarm had stopped.

"I have a feeling neither of them have gotten much sleep lately." Akaashi sat down in the only other chair. Bokuto sat down in his lap and Akaashi seemed to be ready to protest when he sighed and closed his mouth. Kenma started to say something when the door burst open. 

"Rise and shine Kageyama-kun! Get your ass out of bed-er, chair before we get it out for you!" someone yelled. In marched Nishinoya and Tanaka followed by Tsukishima and Hana who both looked annoyed, and Yamaguchi who laughed. The boys seemed pleased to see the Tokyo boys as Kageyama mumbled but didn't lift his head. 

Yamaguchi had his side pressed to Tsukishima's and Kenma wondered if there was something he didn't know about yet. 

"That alarm scared the shit out of me, you should be wide awake." Tanaka announced.

"It goes off all the time. You get used to it." Kageyama said with a yawn. He dropped Hinata's hand and blushed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. 

"What even is it?" Lev asked as he fidgeted with the band on his wrist.

"It alerts all nurses in the area of an emergency. Usually someone's heart has stopped." Hana said and began to press buttons on a machine next to Hinata. They dropped the subject.

"You're a celebrity at school, Kageyama-kun! The heartless setter who's skipping exams to spend time with his best friend!" they all paused upon seeing Hinata's current state. "We are definitely taking you back to school."

"I'm staying till he wakes up." Kageyama yawned.

"And with your little song that probably won't be long now." Tsukishima scoffed.

"You have no room to talk Mr."I make cripples cry"!" Nishinoya shot back.

"I didn't think he was going to cry!"

"And stop calling him crippled."

"Well he is."

The tokyo boys watched this little piece of the Karasuno team bicker as Hana scratched on her clipboard. "Kageyama-kun." Hana said quietly. All arguing stopped as every head turned to her.

"Do you remember what I told you about ARDS? About not having enough oxygen in the blood to keep the organs functioning?" she turned to Kageyama who looked like he was going to be sick. Kageyama nodded. 

"He's not getting enough oxygen into his blood. If we don't do the tracheostomy soon his organs are going to start shutting down." Everybody else seemed as confused as Kenma felt. Kuroo sat down next to Akaashi's chair and Bokuto slid from Akaashi's lap down into Kuroo's. 

"Please! Just wait till he wakes up! I wanna see him before I leave." Kageyama pleaded.

"Kageyama we can't just put it off. I told you ARDS is life threatening but you wanted to stay. Now you're either staying or leaving right now but I've already paged the surgeons." Hana's tone was tight and told them their would be no arguments.

"Wait! Life threatening?" Yamaguchi asked. 

 _I wouldn't have come if I had known it was going to be this scary,_ Kenma thought.

"Alright everyone who isn't me or the kid in the bed, get out!" Hana yelled. They all shuffled out of the room and Kenma could have sworn he saw Kageyama squeeze Hinata's hand one more time before following them out as well. They watched several more nurses enter before wheeling Hinata out of the room. Kageyama looked like he wanted to follow but he knew better. Hana was the last one out. She paused and gave Kageyama a quick hug before rushing down the hall to catch up. 

"I'm going home." Kageyama huffed. His face was emotionless as he turned. "You guys are more than welcome to come," he called over his shoulder, "My mom loves to cook but she only ever has me to cook for." 

And that's how Tanaka, Nishinoya, Tsukishima, Yamaguchi, Kageyama, and all the Tokyo boys ended up in Kageyama's kitchen. Kenma had to admit it was a cozy little space even if it was cramped with all of them there. Kageyama was quiet which wasn't a surprise. Kageyama's mother was quiet noisy which was a surprise.

She shuffled around in the kitchen dropping things and laughing as the boys jumped back in attempts to save their toes. She did her best to keep spirits high, especially her son's, who sat on the counter as far away from everyone as possible. "Kenma-kun you have such pretty eyes." she noted as he handed her the pot that had landed on his foot. He blushed and everyone, save Kageyama, laughed.

Lev Bokuto and Kuroo were good at keeping her entertained. Kenma noticed she was just as childish and dramatic as they were. She laughed loudly as the boy's bickered. Kenma questioned her relation to Kageyama who was still sitting in the corner silently watching his mother jump around as she prepared breakfast for them. "Kageyama honey I know you're down but you need to remember what I told you when you were little. Keep your chin up and find the bright side in things." his mother spoke confidently.

"Mom Hinata is dying. There is no "bright side" to find." Kageyama looked green like he was doing his best to keep the food in his stomach. The kitchen was quiet as Kageyama's mother pursed her lips.

"You need to have faith he'll be okay. All of you." she looked around at all the disheartened boys in her kitchen before shooing them outside while breakfast cooked.

Kenma showed the others his new game and they took turns trying to beat the level. Every time someone did the others would either congratulate them or curse their name, it depended on how many times they had tried to beat the level themselves. Then they started up a very depressing game of five on five volleyball. Kageyama quiet after his third toss, claiming it "wasn't the same".

The others were saved from sitting around and doing nothing when Kageyama's mother stuck her head out the window and called them inside. They thanked her for the meal and dug in silently, thoughts scattered but all on the same topic. Hinata.


	4. Finals

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for taking so long guys I really meant to update a while ago!
> 
> This is kind of just a filler chapter while I work on the plot. 
> 
> Again I'm really sorry I know people have been liking this story!

Kageyama dozed off, face pressed to his hand as the class gawked at his most recent picture of poor Hinata.

"What’s on his throat?” Someone asked.

"Tracheostomy tube?” Another student guessed. Kageyama nodded without opening his eyes.

"Tracheostomy?” Yachi asked.

"A breathing tube that is inserted directly into his trachea through an incision in his neck.” Kageyama told them. He heard people gasp and opened his eyes to people with their hands over their necks like they were afraid it would happen to them. 

"He's doing much better than before." Kageyama admitted. "He's still got all his casts and braces but his stitches have started to heal and the feeding tube doesn't hurt him as much anymore." His classmates looked horrified as he mentioned the tube that stuck out of Hinata's nose. 

"The breathing tube was much scarier. Nothing like watching your friend being wheeled out on a hospital bed as a lady sitting on his chest shoves a tube down his throat and starts yelling to the other nurses about collapsed lungs and chest tubes." Yamaguchi and Tsukkishima grimaced and Yachi whimpered at the memory. 

Kageyama took his phone from the student who was holding it and blocked out the rest of his classmates questions as he sat back down for a nap before class. 

The first three classes were slow, lunch quiet. Kageyama wished he was down the road with Hinata. But his mother had insisted he go to school and at least try to pass his finals. The schedule that day was weird, all the tests taken before lunch so the rest of the day would be celebration. 

After lunch Kageyama sat in science staring out the window when the classroom door burst open. Nishinoya ran in panting and doubled over. 

"Kageyama! I need to talk to you in the hallway." He said and wheezed making Kageyama wonder just where exactly he had run from. Kageyama looked up at his annoyed looking teacher who sighed and nodded, motioning for them both to leave. 

"What is it?" Kageyama asked when the door was shut behind them. 

"Hana tried to call you but you weren't answering so she called me. Hinata is getting worse and Natsu was asking for you. His mother is already there." Kageyama was silent for a moment before he looked back at the classroom door. 

"Will you cover for me?" He asked and Nishinoya nodded. Kageayama didn't bother grabbing any of his stuff before he was sprinting down the hall and out the front door. At the hospital, he didn't even stop at the front desk before pushing his way into the full elevator. The people already in it grumbled but he ignored them. 

When the doors opened on the fourth floor Hana was already waiting for him right outside the elevator. She pulled him out and apologized to the people behind him. They rushed down the hall and into the ICU ward. 

Kageyama froze outside the door and for the first time he thought about what Nishinoya could have meant when he said Hinata was getting worse. He really didn't want to see the boy on the other side of the door. His heart was pounding as Hana opened the door. He stepped in and looked over at the bed. 

Hinata's back brace had been changed to something that reached all the way up a couple inches over the bandages on his chest. There was several new i.v.s in his arm and white patches connected to a machine were attached to his chest and tracked his heart rate. 

Kageyama felt something jump onto him and looked down to see Natsu wrapping herself around his lower half. Kageyama pulled her up so she was resting on his hip. They both looked at her brother. He was awake but like Hana had said the medicine made him too drowsy to open his eyes and the breathing tube and feeding tube made it impossible to speak but when Kageyama took his hand he felt him squeeze it in response. 

This little notion was enough to fill Kageyama with sadness. Hinata would be going into surgery soon and hopefully after that he would begin to actually recover, but it wasn't all that likely. Kageyama pulled Natsu closer and she wrapped her arms around his neck. 

One look and you could see how much Natsu was suffering. She didn't know what was going on but she knew her brother was in pain and that saddened her. 

"Okaasan, can I take Natsu to the park? I think it would cheer both of us up." Hinata's mother nodded and Kageyama carried Natsu out the door, down the hall, in the elevator, and out the front doors. He carried her the ten minute walk to the nearby park and finally set her down when they walked under the stone gate. The park was nothing special, a swing set, a jungle gym, a couple trees, and some benches. 

Natsu turned and looked up at Kageyama, squinting her little eyes against the sun. "Push me on the swing Niichan?" She asked. Kageyama agreed and she led him to the swing set. Kageyama lifted her up as she had also inherited her mother's height and could barely reach. He pushed her gently, both quiet and content as they shared the other's company. 

Eventually Natsu slid off and pulled Kageyama to the jungle gym. She was just as determined to make this better as he was and so she made Kageyama play pirates with her. Kageyama didn't think he would enjoy himself but gave in anyway, not wanting to upset the tiny girl. They swung and lept and ran and eventually, they laughed and smiled and carried on, the critical condition of their friend and brother forgotten, if only for just a couple hours. Kageyama had been right, it had cheered both of them up immensely. 

But in the end they both knew they had to go back to the hospital. Over the past couple days Kageyama and Natsu had come to loathe the place, with its terrible food and sickly atmosphere. It made Kageyama mad and Natsu annoyed. But they went back anyway. 

Mrs. Hinata seemed glad to see them in such high spirits when they returned. Natsu stayed over that night, sleeping in Kageyama's chair with him as they snuggled close to each other. 

"Niichan?" Natsu asked a long while after she should have gone to bed. 

"Yes Natsu?" Kageyama asked. 

"Tell me something good. Tell me lots of good somethings." She ordered. 

Kageyama thought for a moment before saying, "School is over." He started with this then continued, "Finals are over. It's summer time and warm outside. The flowers are blooming. The pool is open." Natsu listened and nodded her head in agreement. 

The next day was the first day of summer and the day Hinata would go in for surgery. Kageyama slept, waking up every so often to get Natsu back to sleep, the little girl not used to the alarms going off throughout the night. Kageyama chose to not think about the upcoming days and hoped Natsu wasn't either. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So guess what guys.
> 
> I've had this chapter ready for the past two weeks, thinking it was already posted. 
> 
> Then I got back on and realized iT DIDNT POST AND I HAD BEEN THINKING IT HAD, TRYING TO FIGURE OUT WHY I WAS STILL GETTING COMMENTS ASKING ME TO UPDATE!
> 
> Anyway, sorry for taking so long lmao.
> 
> Thanks to everyone who's still reading and still likes the story, props to you for sticking with this disaster of a story.


	5. Surgery Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep two updates in two days because I felt bad about the last chapter being so late and so short. Enjoy!

Kageyama and Natsu were woken up early the next morning, the sun not even shining through the open curtains yet. It was Okaasan, asking if they wanted to see Hinata before he went to surgery. Hana had explained why he needed it and what would happen but Kageyama still chose not to believe it. He still chose not to believe any of this had happened. It was just a rather long nightmare.

Kageyama watched as Hinata was wheeled out of the room and down the hall. He felt his heart grow a little heavier with the boy’s absence. Natsu and Okaasan went down to the cafeteria leaving Kageyama in the room by himself. He had barely gotten any sleep that night and decided to take a nap in his chair. He closed his eyes and was beginning to drift to sleep when the door opened and eleven noisy visitors woke him.

“Taking a nap are we?” Nishinoya asked as Kageyama rubbed his eyes drowsily.

“The alarms were waking Natsu up all night and I barely got a wink of sleep.” he answered with a yawn.

“Yeah yeah quit complaining.” Tanaka told him. Everyone took seats either on the floor or in chairs and looked around.

“Where’s Hinata?” Suga asked looking worried.

“He was taken down to the OR about half an hour ago. Natsu and Okaasan are in the cafeteria.” he told them and stretched his arms and legs.

“How long is his surgery?” Daichi asked.

“Hana said two hours if all goes well but it could be as long as six or seven if it’s worse than they are expecting.” Kageyama picked up his phone and saw he had several texts from his mother wondering how Hinata was doing. He was too distracted answering her to see the distressed and disbelieving faces of the teammates around him.

“Six or seven?” Yamaguchi exclaimed suddenly and Kageyama jumped, almost dropping his phone. Kageyama nodded and they all groaned.

For the first hour everything was quiet. Sure they spoke and called and listened, but no one entered the room but Natsu and Okaasan. During the second hour, a nurse came and told them the surgery was going well. They all breathed a deep breath of relief and the mood lightened up, everyone able to joke and laugh again as some of the worry was lifted off their chests.

The worry began to return during hour three when no one came with an update or news. Kageyama, Yamaguchi, Yachi, and Asahi went down to the cafeteria and ate returning just as Hinata’s surgery hit the four hour mark.

"He still isn’t back.” Tanaka said looking nervous.

“I’m sure it’s fine. We have to have faith in the surgeons. I’m sure it was just a miscalculation on the time.” Okaasan reassured them. Kageyama felt queasy and nauseous as he nodded.

He had to have faith. Except how could he have faith when he refused to believe this was even happening. Kageyama put his elbows on his knees and rested his forehead in his hands. Natsu rubbed his shoulder as they waited. Hour five rolled around and another nurse showed up. Everyone’s heads snapped up like puppies that had just heard a treat bag being shaken. The nurse looked somber and Kageyama held his breath.

“There were several complications but the surgeons are doing everything in their power to return Hinata’s lung to normal.” Kageyama let go of his breath and closed his eyes. “It may be another hour or so.” and with that she left. Teammates began to get calls, parents asking what was happening and why they had been gone so long. Each one had to painfully tell their parents Hinata was on hour five of surgery and still wasn’t out. They each had to tell them they would be home as soon as they could but their teammate needed them.

Kageyama’s mother called and he told her the same thing the others had told their parents. She said she understood and would have dinner ready if he came home that night. Kageyama thanked his mother, told her he loved her, then said goodbye and hung up. He expected no more calls and was surprised when his phone rang. He looked down at the screen and felt his chest tighten. It was his father calling.

“Hello.” he said as he answered the phone.

“Tobio my boy, when are you planning on visiting me?” it was the same gruff voice he had come to associate with displeasure and annoyance. He sighed quietly. He hadn’t expected his father to have heard about it, it wasn’t like he was as nearly as involved with his life as his mother and teammates, but it made him mad that he had to explain it to him.

“I can’t come visit you this month, I have other stuff going on.” Kageyama tried to maneuver around the subject but his father liked to be difficult.

“More important than me?” he asked sounding mock hurt.

“Much more.” Kageyama spoke coldly. The line was silent for a moment as his father processed the words.

“You’re joking right? It’s not really that important is it?” Kageyama wanted to remind his father he wasn’t all that important but felt that was harsh and inappropriate for the scenario.

“My best friend is in his fifth hour of surgery for a collapsed lung right now, so yes, it’s more important than coming to visit you and your new girlfriend.” Okaasan seemed to catch onto who he was talking to and it wasn’t long before they all realized it as well.

“Why didn’t you tell me? Who is it?” Kageyama could tell his father was trying hard to sound interested.

“I tried to tell you but you didn't answer or call me back.” he reminded him.

“Well I didn’t think it was that important.” was all his father had for an excuse.

“I’m hanging up now.” Kageyama was more than done with his father.

“Goodbye Tobio.” his father spoke stiffly.

"Yeah.” was Kageyama’s response. He hung up the phone and sighed, closing his eyes as he tried not to be angry. No one said anything about it. They didn't have to, they had gotten a pretty good idea what had been said.

Half way through hour six was when they got the first good news of the day. “The surgery is finished and Hinata is being closed and sutured right now.” a nurse told them. It was as if the entire room could breath again, everyone relieved at the news. Twenty minutes later Hinata was wheeled back into the room. Kageyama approached the bed slowly, afraid what he might see. The team stood behind him as they looked at Hinata. Everything was the same except he wasn’t wearing his volleyball pajama pants anymore, and instead a hospital gown that looked to be child sized. He was asleep and his chest rose and fell gradually.

It was silent till Hana walked in and sighed. “He’s sleeping not dead, don’t look so depressed. He should be fine. Another week and a half and he’ll probably be able to go home." Kageyama felt like a hundred pound weight had been lifted from his chest. Hinata was going to be fine.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Or is he?! *maniacal laughter*
> 
> I hope you liked this chapter it was kinda uneventful.
> 
> Well It's two thirty in the morning so I need to get to sleep (haha like how I acted like I was going to bed) but hopefully you guys weren't too bored with this chapter or this story in general.
> 
> Was it boring? I can't tell It's two thirty. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!<3


	6. Paralysis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I need to chill

That night Kageyama walked home with the team. They all split up eventually and Kageyama made his way home in silence. When he got there his mother had dinner ready, just as she said she would. They ate together and she asked him how Hinata was doing and how the surgery went. He told her everything that he knew about it and she listened, something she had always been exceptionally good at.

Later, when he was getting ready for bed his mother came to the bathroom where he was brushing his teeth. “I was wondering if you wanted to watch a movie in my room, like we did when you were little.” Kageyama looked up at her and could see she was trying really hard to cheer him up. Kageyama spit the toothpaste out and smiled.

“You pick the movie.” he told his mother. She looked excited as she went to find a good movie. Less than ten minutes later Kageyama was curled up next to his mother on her bed as a disney movie flashed on the screen. It was The Little Mermaid, one of his favorites when he was growing up. His mother held his hand and they watched just like they did whenever he got upset as a child. They had done it after his father left, after their dog had died, when Kageyama had dropped his mother’s favorite glass bowl and felt so bad he had begun to sob. This was his mother’s way of comforting him, and man was it working.

An hour and thirty two minutes later Kageyama was lumbering back to his room drowsily, his mother already asleep in her room. He crawled under his sheets and sighed. This was the calmest he had been in a week. He fell asleep quickly, not dreaming as he rested.

The next morning his mother had pancakes and milk set on the table. They ate and Kageyama got dressed then his mother dropped him off at the hospital. Kageyama asked his mother if she wanted to come in for a bit but hospitals weren’t really her thing and she promised she’d visit once Hinata had woken up and could speak. Kageyama nodded and waved as she drove away.

He started towards the elevator as he usually did but George, the man at the front desk, stopped him. “Ah Kageyama! Hinata isn’t well enough for visitors right now.” he told him. Kageyama stopped, confusion flooding over him as he tried to understand.

“He was well enough for visitors yesterday.” Kageyama reminded him.

“I’m just reading what Hana has put into the computer. No visitors until further notice.” Kageyama pursed his lips, taking a seat as he pulled out his phone to text Hana. To his horror she replied with,

**Hana: I’d rather not tell you over text, I’ll be down in a minute.**

Kageyama sat tapping his foot anxiously for what felt like hours. Then Hana turned the corner and he shot up. “How is he? Is it his lungs? Did something happen in the surgery?” and to think, just last night he had been so relaxed, so sure his friend was fine.

“Yes his lungs are healing but he’s in surgery right now.” Kageyama felt his stomach in his feet but it was quickly climbing back up towards his throat.

“B-but he was just in surgery yesterday. Why is he back today? What’s wrong?” Kageyama began to panic but Hana waved him off.

“They’re fixing the bone in his back. You can go up and see him in about an hour.” Kageyama nodded and Hana excused herself to get back to working, leaving Kageyama in the waiting room by himself. He wandered down to the gift shop, not expecting to find anything all that interesting. He found balloons but Hinata had enough of those. He found food and candy but Hinata was being fed through a tube in his nose so that wasn’t a good idea either. There were pens and dolls and stuffed animals and cards and other tiny knick knacks. Kageyama was about to leave when he saw it.

The big black teddy bear was soft and easily as tall as Hinata. Kageyama hated to see the price but when it ended up being fairly cheap, he decided he had no choice. He was getting that bear for Hinata. The woman at the register offered to send it up to any room so Kageyama gave her Hinata’s room number and she promised it would be delivered as soon as Hinata was allowed to have visitors again. After that Kageyama had nothing to do but wander. He went to the cafeteria and sat for thirty minutes, watching the people around him eat and talk and laugh and carry on. Then Hana texted and he slowly made his way upstairs.

When he got there a giant black bear was sitting in the corner of the room already. Hinata’s back brace was gone, replaced by layers of bandages. Hana had gotten him back in his volleyball pajamas that came down to slightly cover his casts. Kageyama sat down in his chair and answered texts, his hand in Hinata’s as Hinata slept. An hour later a doctor came in and woke Hinata up. He didn’t open his eyes but his breathing was different.

“Alright Hinata, if you can, I need you to wiggle your toes.” Kageyama couldn’t help looking down at the toes sticking from the casts on Hinata’s legs. His toes were still, nothing moving but the rise and fall of his chest as he breathed. “Move your toes Hinata. Just a little bit is fine.” the doctor persuaded. Still Hinata was still and Kageyama began to become worried. “How about you squeeze your friend’s hand? Can you do that?”

They both watched the hand that Kageyama was holding. Ever so slightly it moved, applying the tiniest amount of pressure on Kageyama’s fingers. “Can you move your toes now. It doesn’t have to be a lot, we just need to make sure you can.” Kageyama held his breath. Nothing changed. The doctor wrote something down, assured Kageyama he was probably just still a little numb, and left.

**Daichi: How’s Hinata and are you coming to practice today?**

Kageyama felt his phone buzz and read the text message in his head. He decided practice was best for him, even if he didn’t want to leave Hinata.

**Kageyama: He just got out of surgery on his back and they’re trying to get him to move his toes. I’ll be at practice if nothing else happens.**

Kageyama put down his phone and sighed. All was quiet and by the time practice rolled around nothing had happened. He went home quickly and grabbed his stuff before heading to the gym.

Practice was weird without Hinata there to annoy him. It had been a week exactly since Hinata and his mother had been in the car accident but it felt like much longer. Other than their decoy’s notable absence, practice was normal, his teammates were normal, he was normal. They got stuff done and worked on several areas that needed improvement.

They were all talking, changing in the club room and getting ready to head home when Suga asked how Hinata was doing. Kageyama thought for a moment and realized, he was doing better than he had been.

"Better than before but he still hasn’t moved his toes.” they all seemed to see the weight in this predicament. If Hinata couldn’t move his toes it meant he could be paralyzed. If he was paralyzed he would never walk, never run, never jump ever again. They walked down to the market and got candy bars, each boy splitting off in the direction of his home. Kageyama had dinner, practiced in the yard, showered and went to bed as if it were a normal night, just as any other. He hoped in the morning he would show up and Hinata would be moving again.

* * *

Kageyama entered the room and threw himself into his chair. Something seemed different but he couldn’t tell what. Then he saw it. A second bed was in the room. Attached to the pillow was a note. It was from Hana, telling him she had gotten a second bed so he didn’t have to sleep in the chair all the time. Kageyama smiled and sat back down. He looked around at all the presents and colorful balloons. It looked like a rainbow had thrown up on the opposite side of the room which, coincidentally, matched the little decoy’s personality.

“Oh Hinata.” Kageyama sighed and closed his eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have another one already ready to be posted. 
> 
> Lord save me. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter!


	7. I'm Sorry

Wednesday, three days after the surgery on his back, Hana ran a couple tests before leaving again. Kageyama had gotten into the habit of speaking out loud while he visited Hinata. Not because he could answer, he couldn’t, but because he could hear him. Hinata liked to be up to date with things and so whenever Kageyama heard something interesting, he said it out loud incase Hinata was listening. He had been telling Hinata about the men’s national team winning a game when Hana entered again.

"Ok boys. Who’s ready for some more pain medicine and another surgery?” Kageyama’s heart dropped as Hana said this. “Time to remove that trach tube.” Kageyama’s head whipped up and he stared at her in shock.

“Really?!” he asked.

“Yeah.” she said with a laugh. Kageyama called Hinata’s mother and told her, the woman ecstatic. She said she would be down as soon as she got off of work. Hana and several other nurses were wheeling Hinata out of the room when he got off the phone.

“Will he be able to talk and eat after this?” Kageyama asked walking beside Hana.

"After several hours, yes.” she answered.

Kageyama smiled as he made his way back to the room. He took a seat next to the bed and waited, scrolling through his phone and thinking. Hinata was getting better. He would be talking soon. He would be awake soon. Kageyama felt like he was getting his best friend back. Twenty minutes later and Hinata came back, the terrible tube gone and replaced by a white bandage. The feeding tube had been removed from his nose and the little thing was red from the tape.

“Just one tube left.” Hana said. They both looked at the chest tube coming from his side. Just one tube left. “When he wakes up we’ll have to start trying to get him to move his toes. If he can’t he may need another surgery.” Hana looked pained as she said it.

“But that would be his third, fifth if you count the trach tube.” Kageyama complained.

“And he may need more, it all depends on his condition.” Hana told him. "Push the button if he wakes up.” and with that she left, taking her little clipboard with her. Kageyama groaned and sat back down. He closed his eyes but his nap was short lived as the alarms rang out. He rubbed his eyes and saw he wasn’t the only one who had been woken by it. Hinata had a hand over the bandage on his neck, wincing in pain. When he saw Kageyama he smiled.

“Shoyou.” Kageyama breathed, his heart expanding with joy as his friend finally woke up.

“Tobio.” Hinata answered, his voice raspy as he winced again. Kageyama pushed the button to call for the nurse. He smiled at Hinata, feeling stupid for the tears brimming in his eyes. But Hinata was close to tears too, wiping his eyes and then examining the mass of wires and IVs attached to his arms.

“Pretty bad, huh?” he asked. Kageyama laughed, the first real and big laugh since Hinata had entered the hospital. But now his little friend was awake. Hinata shocked Kageyama, grabbing his hand and squeezing it. Both boys turned scarlet red, letting go as Hana came in.

Hana explained that when he spoke and ate, Hinata would have to put his hand over the bandages on his throat to provide extra support. It was several hours before Hinata could speak properly. When he could, Dr.Eito returned to speak to him.

“How are you feeling Hinata?” he asked as he checked over the papers Hana had given him.  
“My throat and side still hurts but I’m fine.” Hinata answered. His mother and Natsu entered then, both grinning matching smiles as they saw Hinata’s eyes wide and mouth open.

“Niichans!” Natsu exclaimed. She pulled herself into Kageyama’s lap and grabbed Hinata’s hand.

“Hi Natsu.” Hinata spoke with his hand on his neck as he smiled at his little sister. Natsu chatted excitedly, trying to recap a week and a half in five seconds. Dr. Eito cut in a moment later and continued speaking to Hinata.

“How are your stitches?” he asked.

“They feel fine.” Hinata told him. Dr. Eito nodded and wrote something down.

“Now, I need you to wiggle your toes for me.” Everyone in the room held their breath, watching Hinata’s toes.

“Niichan you gotta wiggle them.” Natsu told him a moment later.

"Are they not moving? I can’t see them that well.” Hinata leaned up like he was trying to see his feet. “I’m wiggling them.”

“They’re not moving.” Kageyama commented quietly. Dr. Eito wrote something down again and Hinata gave Kageyama a scared look.

“Why don’t you try to move your leg?” Dr. Eito offered. It was quiet for a moment as Hinata stayed still.

“Now I can they’re not moving.” Hinata mumbled.

“Can you feel this?” Dr. Eito touched Hinata’s toes and looked up at him expectantly. Hinata looked close to tears as he shook his head. Kageyama couldn’t quite believe what that meant.

“What about this?” Dr. Eito moved his hands up to Hinata’s hips, just above his casts. Hinata shook his head again.

“Why not?” Natsu asked as she bounced up and down on Kageyama’s knee.

“Well Natsu, when your brother hurt his back he may have paralyzed the bottom half of his body.” Dr. Eito explained.

“Paralyzed?” Okaasan asked from where she stood by the end of Hinata’s bed.

“Yes, we’ll have to run several tests but he will most likely need another surgery.”

"And after that he’ll be able to play again right?” Kageyama asked looking at Hinata, “We can’t do the God Fast Spike, without the one who spikes the ball.”

“Yeah I have to be able to go back to playing after this. Like, really soon after this.” Hinata added.

“I can’t guarantee that the procedure will return function to your legs but we’ll do all we can to get you back on the court.” Dr. Eito promised him. Hinata nodded, covering his throat as he coughed.

As soon as the doctor left Okaasan grabbed Hinata’s hand with both of hers.

“I’m sorry Tobio.” Hinata looked at his partner with pain in his eyes.

“It’s not your fault. I’m not mad at you.” Kageyama told him. Hinata nodded, taking Kageyama’s hand with his other and closing his eyes. Natsu crawled onto the bed as Kageyama’s cheeks turned pink. She made her way to the end of the bed and began messing with Hinata’s toes.

“Are you sure you can’t feel this?” she asked. Hinata opened his eyes and looked around.

"Feel what?” he asked then saw Natsu pulling on his toes, “Oh. No I can’t feel a thing from my hips down.”

Kageyama poked Hinata’s hip and grimaced when Hinata didn’t react, didn’t even look at him. He really couldn’t feel a thing.

“You have practice soon.” Hinata looked up to Kageyama who turned to the clock on the wall. He did have practice soon.

"But what about you?” he asked.

"I can’t go anyway. I’ll be fine. But you need to head out or you’ll be late.” Kageyama swallowed but nodded. He squeezed Hinata’s small hand before letting go. He said goodbye to Natsu and Okaasan, waving before he left.

* * *

 

“Hey Kageyama. How’s Hinata?” Yamaguchi asked as they all stood around stretching.

“Oh I forgot to tell you! They took the trach tube and feeding tube out this morning. He’s talking again.” the room exploded in excitement as the team learned their decoy was recovering nicely.

When they settled down Suga asked, “But how are his legs?” His teammates smiles fell as Kageyama’s did. “He’s okay right?” Suga gave Kageyama a look that said he wasn’t sure he wanted to know.

“He’s uh, he’s been paralyzed from the waist down. He can’t move or feel anything from his hips to his toes.” at first Kageyama didn’t look at his teammates but when he did they were all frozen, staring at him with eyes full of shock. “He’s going in for his fifth surgery soon to try and fix the nerves. If it works he’ll eventually be able to play again.”

“And if it doesn’t?” Coach Ukai asked from where he stood going over sets.

“He’ll be in a wheelchair from then on.” Ukai nodded and went back to his paper.

After practice Kageyama didn’t go back to the hospital. He didn’t want to see Hinata. Not when he could speak, not when he could sit there and apologize the entire time. He’d visit in the morning, when he had wrapped his head around everything.


	8. Nightmares

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for almost 1k reads!
> 
> It means a lot to me! <3

Hinata had been asleep for every other surgery he had gone in for. Now he was awake and lucid and very scared. He sniffled and held back tears as he watched the people around him work. The were setting up tubes and filling IVs and writing stuff on clipboards and pressing buttons and pulling at things. It was a scary process and he wished above all for Kageyama to come back already. He wanted to see him before he went to surgery.

“Where’s Kageyama?” he asked as Hana came to his bedside.

“Not here, why?” she too pressed buttons on a machine next to him.

“I want to see him before surgery. But he’s not here.” he said dejectedly.

“You know he’s been here for the past week and a half right? He’s barely left your side the entire time. You, Hinata Shoyou, are very lucky to have that boy.” Hana told him and gave him a pointed look.

“I am?” he didn’t feel very lucky at the moment.

“Yeah. He’s a good friend. He’s been worried sick about you the entire time. I’ve honestly never seen a teenage boy look so stressed over someone else's well being.” she said with a little laugh. Hinata thought on this as he was wheeled out the door and down the hall.

He thought about it while they prepped him in the OR. He thought about it some more as they began to put him under for the surgery. At the last second he decided something he never thought her would. He loved Kageyama Tobio. He didn’t know what kind of love it was but that decision could be saved for later.  
  
~Kageyama~

 _Kageyama walked through the door and looked around. Hinata was nowhere to be found. He glanced in the bathroom but heard someone clear their throat behind him. Slowly Kageyama turned and looked behind him. In the doorway Hinata stood. He was standing, with his two legs. They weren’t paralyzed anymore. Kageyama’s grin grew as he saw the casts and stitches and braces were gone. Not even scars remained on Hinata._  
  
_“Hinata.” he cried and raced over, throwing his arms around the boy. Hinata hugged him back, grabbing the back of Kageyama’s shirt and holding onto him. Kageyama could feel tears in his eyes and this time he let them flow. He had his Hinata back. Kageyama pulled away to ask his little friend something but his arms were suddenly empty. He spun around trying to find Hinata. At first he didn’t see it then he glanced at the bed. A figure lay on the bed, a blanket pulled up above it to cover its face and body. The machines around it had been turned off and IVs unhooked. Kageyama could feel his hands shaking as he went to stand beside the bed. The tears of joy turned to something else as he slowly reached up, terrified to see what was under the blanket._

_Finally he plucked up the courage and pulled the sheet down. Underneath was his worst nightmare. Hinata lay, white as a sheet with his bruised eyelids closed. He had his hospital gown on again, his brace and casts removed as they weren’t needed anymore. His stitches and scars were back and they looked uglier than ever. Hinata’s little arms were covered in tiny holes from IV needles and his dead face seemed to be contorted in pain, maybe even fear. Kageyama dropped the sheet and backed into the wall._

_His horror grew as a group of people entered, wheeling Hinata’s body towards the door. Kageyama couldn’t help it and in his panic he screamed, “No!” The people didn’t seem to hear him and he reached for the bed but some invisible force kept him pinned to the wall. “Hinata!” he screamed as tears streamed down his face. He screamed again before the setting shifted._

_He stood in the middle of a church, people moving about around him. He seemed to be unseen by the others and jumped when a crying woman walked right through him. He realized he wasn’t really there to the others and looked around, trying to figure out where he was. The church was filled with people in black, everywhere he turned he saw people crying and sniffling and comforting each other. A group of boys at the back he realized was his team. A different Kageyama stood with them, a Kageyama dressed in a black suit just as his teammates. They were all crying and a volleyball was clasped between Daichi’s hands, it’s fabric covered in signatures and notes._

_The team walked up to the casket Kageyama had yet to notice. Suit-Kageyama was handed the ball and he placed it inside. When they moved away crying even harder Kageyama took their place and looked inside the casket. He felt a scream escape his throat as he looked down at the little orange haired boy. Hinata was as white and pale as he had been before but now he wore a suit and tie. “Hinata!” Kageyama screamed again as he tried to grab the boy, tried to shake him awake. “No! Why?! Why?!” no one heard his screams as Kageyama cried._

Suddenly Kageyama was awake, sitting up in his bed as he gasped for air with a hand over his racing heart. His face was wet with tears and his eyes wide in fear. Everything had been a nightmare. Just a terrible, awful nightmare. He felt a hand on his shoulder and looked over to see Daichi, Suga, and half the team. Light flitted in through the windows and filled the room. His hands were shaking and he slowly lowered his right hand from his chest. He quickly realized his hands weren’t the only things shaking, his entire body trembling as he licked his dry lips.

“Kageyama?” Daichi asked. It was his hand on Kageyama’s shoulder.

“Are you okay?” Suga asked. Both older boys sat on the edge of Kageyama’s bed, the few members of the team that had come sharing the same worried look. Kageyama nodded his head weakly and ran his hand through his messy hair but he was shaking so hard it didn’t do much to tame it.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked looking around the room.  
  
“We were going to visit Hinata and figured we’d pick you up but your mom said you were still asleep. She told us we could go wake you up but you started screaming and we figured you were having a nightmare.” Suga explained. Kageyama nodded again and tried to blink the spots from his eyes.

“Yeah just- just a nightmare.” he told them.

The team let him shower and get dressed before they left. They hadn’t drove, the hospital close enough that they walked. And so they walked down the street, Kageyama seemingly fine as he talked with his friends. It was just him, Suga, Daichi, Yamaguchi, Tsukishima, Tanaka, and Nishinoya. The seven boys went right to Hinata’s room. Kageyama caught his breath as he found it empty, just as he had in his dream. Then he saw Hana and she told them they’d have to wait because Hinata had been in surgery since early that morning and wasn’t out yet.

They sat around and waited. Eventually they all went down for lunch in the cafeteria where they spent at least an hour laughing and eating and making quite a mess. Kageyama felt bad for whoever had to clean it up. He occasionally got updates from Hana and they learned Hinata had been in surgery for at least seven hours already, having been woken up early for it. They spent another hour wandering the hospital before going back. Kageyama and his teammates were surprised to see Hinata back in the room when they got back.

He was asleep in the bed but the others were ecstatic to see the bandage around his throat instead of a tube in it. Kageyama had to admit, he was still pretty happy about this as well. Hana said he would be asleep for another hour or so and urged them to be quiet.

“Getting prepped for the surgery this morning had been quite traumatic for him and it’s better if he get’s as much sleep as possible.” Hana had said. Kageyama felt bad for having not been there that morning. He liked to think he could have calmed Hinata down at least a little bit.

They all spoke quietly as Hana had instructed. “How long do you think till he plays again?” Yamaguchi asked.

“Not any time soon but he should be fine by nationals.” Suga guessed and the other nodded.

“But will he be able to play? By then he’ll have been out for at least two months.” Tsukishima reminded them. This seemed to sink in slowly as they thought.

“Do you think he’ll have his legs back?” had been another topic they discussed. They all spoke about how likely they thought it was that he would but they also were forced to discuss what would happen if he didn’t.

Before Hinata was even awake Hana walked in looked furious. “How dare they?!” she mumbled angrily as she threw a magazine down in front of the boys. It was volleyball weekly.

“What about it?” Tanaka asked, “It just looks like a magazine.

“Page thirty two.” she hissed. Kageyama picked the magazine up and flipped to page thirty two, the other reading over his shoulder. It was a short article about the incident and where it left Karasuno’s team.

“The boy has been dying for the past two weeks and they have the nerve to write an article, blaming his mother no less, and talking about how it would negatively affect your team.” Daichi and Suga seemed just as mad as Hana, the others discussing angrily the way it seemed to push all fault on Hinata’s mother, like she had purposely gotten into a car accident to stop her son from playing.

“‘Stripped him of his future career and abilities’. What the Hell does that even mean?” Nishinoya read a line from the article. Hana had left them to fume as she ran to help as the alarms rang out. Though the magazine had correctly portrayed Hinata’s current health it was still angering that they had written an article about it. Suga eventually said they should drop it and, to everyone’s dismay, Nishinoya literally dropped the magazine Tanaka saying, “Ba-dum-psh.” as he and Nishinoya looked expectantly at the others.

“You two are impossible.” Daichi mumbled as the boys looked proud of themselves.

Hinata slept for two hours before he finally mumbled something about sugar and his eyes fluttered open. He licked his lips and rubbed his eyes, careful to not pull any IVs from his arms. He stretched his arms and scratched his collarbone with a yawn before he finally took notice to his company.

“Sleeping Beauty awakes.” Yamaguchi joked as Hinata gave them a sleepy smile.

He yawned again and placed a hand over his throat before saying, “Hey I haven’t seen you guys in forever.” The boys laughed as Hinata rubbed the sleep from his eyes. They of course had seen him just a few days ago, but Hinata had been asleep or unable to open his eyes for a while.

“You look really small in that bed.” Tsukishima commented. Hinata looked at the bed around him and shrugged. He looked small compared to most things. Kageyama reached past the others as they watched in curiosity. He pressed the button to call for Hana and Hinata pouted.

“Don’t call them in here, I was enjoying the peace.” Hinata complained and dropped his hand from his throat. Kageyama smiled and pressed the button again. Hana entered again with Dr. Eito.

“Well Hinata, you sure seem to be popular.” Dr. Eito commented as he looked over the sheet hanging from the end of his bed. Tsukishima snorted and Yamaguchi elbowed him in the side. Hana pressed a finger to Hinata’s side and he sucked in a breath, wincing in pain. She used a stethoscope to listen to his breathing. She frowned but didn’t say anything. Hana cut away the bandages around Hinata’s neck and revealed the nasty wound were his trach hole was healing. He grimaced as she wrapped it back up with fresh bandages.

“Alright Hinata,” Dr. Eito said once Hana had finished, “Try to move your toes.” Kageyama rubbed Hinata’s arm as the boy stared intensely at his own feet. “It’s okay if you can’t at first, just relax.”

Hinata sat for another couple minutes. Kageyama was beginning to lose hope when the pale little toes moved just a fraction. Hinata smiled brightly as he gripped Kageyama’s hand with both of his. He concentrated for another second before his toes moved again. Kageyama was grinning from ear to ear as he watched Hinata excitedly giggle.

Daichi and Suga ruffled Hinata hair, Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Yamaguchi congratulating Hinata. Even Tsukishima was smiling as Hinata moved his toes more fluidly. Kageyama squeezed Hinata’s hands as his little friend smiled at him.

“Good job idiot.” Hana smiled at Hinata who laughed and gave his cousin a smile.

“Can you feel this?” Dr.Eito pressed on Hinata’s toes and Hinata flinched but continued to smile as he nodded.

“It hurts but yeah.” Hinata told him. Kageyama had never been happier as Hinata slowly moved his toes again.

“The casts should be able to come off in another two weeks, then you’ll begin your physical therapy.” Dr. Eito told him. Hinata nodded as the man looked at the papers again.

“Hana, will you be removing the chest tube tomorrow?” he asked.

“We’re going to do a scan and check the amount of fluid in the lungs. If it’s all gone we’ll remove the tube.” Hana told him. The doctor nodded, said farewell and left. Hana followed him out and waved. The teammates laughed and joked and made fun of each other, as if nothing had ever happened. Kageyama liked the company, used to sitting in a quiet room with few and far between no visitors. Hinata seemed to enjoy it too

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shits gonna go down in the next chapter(but is it good shit or bad shit?). 
> 
> Don't think everything is okay yet either. 
> 
> I have lots of plans. 
> 
> Lots. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!<3


	9. Practice

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha I need to chill
> 
> Thanks for over 1k hits!<3

Practices had been weird but better. Better since Hinata had been doing better. A week after the tube was removed Kageyama and Hinata struck up a deal with Hana. And so she accompanied Hinata to a practice to, as Hinata and Kageyama put it, “Get him back in the feel of playing”.

The two friends babbled excitedly as Hana walked behind them. She pushed Hinata’s wheelchair down the street towards the school. Kageyama was slightly late but it didn't matter and he forgot about the laps he would have to run while he was helping Hana get Hinata’s wheelchair up the few stairs that led to the gym. Once he was off the stairs, Kageyama threw the doors of the gym open and looked around.

“You’re late Kageyama.” Daichi called as the team stretched.

“I was bringing you guys a surprise.” Kageyama said as Hana pushed Hinata in behind him. The entire team jumped up, rushing over to greet Hinata and talk to him.

Kageyama smiled at Hinata as he saw the boy’s face light up, the gym and his team filling him with an extra air of happiness, like it had brought back a certain side of him that had been lost in the car accident. Kageyama felt a hand on his shoulder and turned, Daichi smiling down at him.

“You okay?” He asked. Kageyama nodded and Daichi gave him a knowing look, as if he understood something not even Kageyama understood yet. “You care about him. A lot.” Daichi said. Kageyama‘s eyes went wide but his cheeks turned pink and his ears became hot.

“I-I mean he’s my friend and-” Kageyama tried to make up an excuse but Daichi shook his head.

“I know you Kageyama, you like him.” Daichi laughed as Kageyama began to splutter, trying to come up with something to say. “You don’t need to say anything to me. All you need to do is think about it. And maybe tell him.” Daichi patted Kageyama’s shoulder and walked back to Hinata and the others. Kageyama stayed where he stood, a few feet away from the others as he thought.

Did he like Hinata? He couldn't. He wouldn't. But did he? Kageyama couldn't tell. He had never really liked anyone that way before. Kageyama thought on it the entire practice, occasionally glancing over to his friend who spoke with his cousin on the side lines. Kageyama could see the longing in Hinata’s eyes as he watched them play and explained what each move and play and call meant.

After practice Kageyama couldn't help pulling Suga off to the side as everyone else went to the club room to change.

“Hey Kageyama. What's up?” Suga asked.

“Uh Sugawara, how do you… how do you, you know…” Kageyama watched Suga’s worried expression as he tried to find the right words to use. “How do you know w-when you like someone? L-like, really like someone.” Kageyama stuttered and Suga’s worried look turned to amusement.

“Is this about Hinata?” He asked.

“Why do you think that?!” Kageyama exclaimed and Suga laughed.

“The others might not see it, but it's a bit obvious to me and Daichi.” Suga told him. Kageyama felt his whole face burning. He opened his mouth to say something but Suga raised his hand. “If you like someone, I'm not saying who, but if you really like someone you'll know. When you're not with them you'll want to be and when you are with them you won't want to be anywhere else or with anyone else. Being with them is fun and when things are going wrong you stay by each other and help each other through it.”

Kageyama nodded and listened. He thanked Suga and they went to the club room, changing as the others talked. “Are you walking down to the store with us?” Ennoshita asked as Kageyama pushed his clothes into his bag.

“Ah no, I'm walking with Hana and Hinata back to the hospital.” He told him. Ennoshita nodded and when they left the boys went separate ways, the rest of the team in one direction and Kageyama in the direction of Hinata and Hana. The walk back to the hospital was quiet as all three thought. Hinata and Kageyama thought of each other and Hana thought of the upcoming x-rays to determine the state of Hinata’s legs. When they reentered Hinata’s room Hana and Kageyama got him back into his bed.  Hana asked if he was in pain before leaving the boys alone.

They were silent for a moment before Kageyama asked if Hinata was alright.

“Yes, I'm fine.” Hinata didn't sound fine.

“Are you sure?”

“Yes why?”

“You don't sound fine. What's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“It's something.”

“I said I'm fine Kageyama now drop it!” Hinata exploded making Kageyama jump. “It just hurts not being able to play. Or walk. Or get out of bed on my own. I'm sick and tired of this bed and this room and this hospital and I just want to be okay again! Is that too much to ask?!” Tears were in his eyes as Hinata yelled. “I want to leave! I want to go home! I want to lay in my own bed for once! I'm not dying anymore I don't see why I still have to be here.”

Kageyama made his way past the chairs and to the side of Hinata’s bed. He took Hinata’s hand as the boy rambled, tears streaming down his pale cheeks.

“I never want to be here ever again! I don't like it! I hate it!” Kageyama wiped away Hinata’s tears with the heel of his hand. “I hate this place! I hate this room! I hate-” Kageyama bent down and shut him up the only way he could think of. He pressed his lips to Hinata’s, Hinata quieting immediately. He was frozen for a second before his muscles relaxed and he leaned forward to press his lips closer to Kageyama's.

The world felt like it had fallen away, the floor beneath Kageyama's feet giving out as he cupped Hinata's chin. A small hand reached up and found its way into Kageyama's hair as they kissed. Neither boy was aware of anything but the other.

“Gah! Gross!” a familiar voice yelled and they both pulled away so quickly Kageyama almost stumbled over a chair. Their heads wiped to towards the door, mortified looks on their faces as they saw who had walked in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
> 
> Told you shit was gonna go down. 
> 
> Took me nine chapters but I'm finally adding some real Kagehina in!
> 
> Anyway next chapter out soon lmao. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!<3


	10. Casts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHAHAHAHA
> 
> Yea I feel just the teeniest bit evil.
> 
> Enjoy!<3

All three boys pretended like it didn’t happen. Kageyama pretended he didn’t kiss Hinata, Hinata pretended he didn’t kiss Kageyama back, Nishinoya pretended he didn’t walk in and see it. He still gave the two funny, knowing looks though. None of them had mentioned it for almost a week. Hinata was down for his x-rays when Nishinoya walked in.

“Where's your little lover?” he asked looking around. Kageyama grimaced and Nishinoya laughed, “Everyone knew it was going to happen sooner or later.”

“You told them?!” Kageyama asked angrily.

“No! But can I?” Nishinoya looked excited as he walked farther into the room. Kageyama shrugged and Noya rolled his eyes.

“Ask Hinata. I don’t want you telling people if he doesn’t want them knowing.” Noya nodded and looked around.

“Like I said,” he mumbled, “Everyone knew it would happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“What do I mean? It was kinda obvious you and Hinata liked each other.”

“Was not!”

“Uh, yeah it was too.”

Kageyama huffed in exasperation and leaned back in his chair. Noya laughed again and Kageyama glared at him. Hinata evidently did not care whether they knew or not. He just didn’t want to be the one to say it. Nishinoya was quite excited when he left and Kageyama didn’t take that as a good sign.

Within a day of the x-rays Hinata’s casts were off and he was moved from the ICU. Both Kageyama and Hinata stared at his legs in awe. They hadn’t seen them in weeks. The first thing he did when he got them off was take a bath. Hana had said he stunk and that was enough for the blushing boy to wheel his wheelchair to the bathroom and turn on the tap.

Hinata was in a wheelchair the first couple days of having his casts off. He was still stuck in the hospital though, his lungs under close watch as well as it being more convenient as far as physical therapy went. Twice a day a nice middle aged lady in a doctor's coat came in and made Hinata do different stretches. Kageyama could see Hinata was in pain and hated watching it but Hinata insisted he stay in the room. The woman, Mrs. K, explained what each stretch was working out and why he had to do them.

“Yeah but when do I get to walk?” Hinata would say each time she introduced a new stretch.

“When you’re ready child.” she would say and continue to help him stretch.

“Today’s the day child!” Mrs. K called as she entered the room, five days after the casts had been removed. “Get your booty movin’, we’re walking down the hall and back.” Kageyama had never seen his little friend more excited about taking a fifty foot walk.

“I feel like an old person.” Hinata complained as he pushed the walker in front of him. Kageyama laughed and Mrs. K smacked his arm.

“You look like a really short old man.” Kageyama commented and Hinata groaned.

“I knew it!” he said as they turned.

“But like one of those cute old guys, who tells funny stories and everyone wants to be around.”

Hinata blushed as he said, “I think that was a compliment.”

“Oh yeah, I guess.” Kageyama said and blushed as well.

“Just date already.” Mrs. K breathed with a sigh. Kageyama gasped and Hinata sucked in a breath of air so fast he began to cough. “Don’t act like that I heard your little friend talking about you two kissing.” Kageyama had no idea how she had heard it but he was too scared to question her.

“We’re not going to date.” Hinata choked out as he finished coughing. Mrs. K rolled her eyes and gave him an ‘Oh yeah, I definitely believe that’ look.

Hinata continued to use the walker for several more days, switching to a wheelchair when he got tired. Kageyama showed up a week after the casts were gone with news. He wasn’t sure whether Hinata would take it as bad or good news but it was news all the same.

“Do you think my mom would let me go?” he asked as Kageyama explained the training camp coming up.

“Your mom probably would but the real questions is, would Hana?” Kageyama told him. Hinata groaned and closed his eyes. 

As it would turn out, Hana would let him. “It will get you some more exercise, help you work on walking. Besides you haven't seen anywhere but this hospital for four weeks.” she said when they asked her.

“You mean I can go?” Hinata asked excitedly.

“Ask your mom first but I’m fine with it. Don’t over exert yourself and don’t get hurt. I don’t want you even touching a volleyball while you’re there though.” Hana said as she did the routine check of Hinata’s movement and reflexes.

“But-” Hinata started looking like a pouty toddler.

“No buts. You have so many stitches I’m surprised you’ve only pulled out a few in the weeks you’ve had them. Don’t you dare get off the walker either.”

“I have to use the walker?!” Hinata asked looking mortified. Kageyama began to crack up as Hana gave him a devilish grin. 

Much to Hinata’s relief and Kageyama’s disappointment, Hinata was given forearm crutches. It took him a while and a lot of falls to get the hang of using them but soon he was hobbling around with Kageyama. They walked down to the cafeteria and Kageyama reminded Hinata he was only wearing pajama pants. The orange haired boy immediately wanted to go back upstairs but Kageyama said it was too late, they were there so they were getting food. They sat for a while, talking and eating. It was if nothing had happened. Except it had. Kageyama had kissed Hinata. And he didn’t regret it. He just wished he could do it again.

“Hey Kageyama?” Hinata asked as they walked back down the hall.

“Yeah?” Kageyama turned and felt something grab his shirt. Hinata pulled him down to his height and kissed him. Kageyama immediately kissed him back. He was surprised to feel sad when Hinata pulled away.

“Sorry.” Hinata breathed. Kageyama shook his head but couldn’t find his voice. The hallway began to get busy and the few nurses shuffling about turned to twenty as well as several doctors and patients. Kageyama hated being back on the normal floors. They continued to Hinata’s room, both blushing madly. Were they dating? Could they date? When would they kiss again? Would they at all? Kageyama had a lot of questions but not many answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not much happened? I can never tell if I'm being predictable or not. Am I?
> 
> There was a teeny bit of kissing but that's it. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter though!<3<3<3


	11. Tokyo

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ???
> 
> Sorry for the late chapter. 
> 
> School was supposed to be hard wtf I must be doing something completely wrong I've fucked up guys plot twist it's not this easy I'm just too dumb for it to be hard. 
> 
> Yea I've been stressin' 
> 
> Enjoy the chapter!<3

“Hinata calm down.” Daichi chastised as Hinata babbled loudly with Yamaguchi. He was hobbling around the gym all morning with his crutches clicking annoyingly. No one said anything about them though as Hinata was clearly enjoying himself. Even Tsukkishima held his tongue for the sake of his teammate.

“Lemme see your scars again.” Tanaka said. Hinata lifted up his shirt enough to see the scars on his side and chest but not high enough to cover the scar at the base of his neck. “Not gonna lie, you look kinda badass.” Tanaka told him and Hinata smiled his room-brightening, award winning grin.

They were almost ready to leave when a car pulled up and a short woman stepped out. “Hi Okaasan!” Hinata called as his mother walked over.

“You forgot your medicine.” She said and handed a baggy to Kageyama who stood closer.

“Oh, thank you.” Hinata said and made his way to his mother. She kissed his forehead and told him to have fun before leaving again.

Kageyama watched Hinata do his best to keep up with the others. He smiled and laughed and bounced and pouted and Kageyama hadn’t seen him look so happy in a long time. The crutches slowed him down but he didn’t let them hold him back from being his normal cheery self. A couple times a crutch slipped out from beneath him and he’d need helped back up but he just laughed it off and ignored the worried glances. Kageyama liked this happier, sunshine Hinata.

When they boarded the bus Kageyama sat down first and gave Hinata the aisle, pushing his crutches under the seat. The bus ride was long and loud and filled with name calling and yelling and teasing and lots of scolding from the third years.

“Put Hinata’s crutches down.” Ennoshita yelled at Tanaka. Tanaka rolled his eyes but obliged, sliding them back under Hinata and Kageyama’s seat.

Hinata fell asleep halfway through the drive, Kageyama leaning over him to talk to the others. He had inevitably worn himself out with all his movement. Kageyama had warned him he would but he had been too excited to be moving.

When the bus pulled up outside the gym Kageyama shook Hinata awake and helped him slip his arms into his crutches. Hinata was second last off the bus, Kageyama behind him as they picked their friends from the crowd of boys standing in warm up gear as they waited outside to greet them. The team walked as a group, Hinata at the front where he bounced excitedly. He winced as he got tripped up on his crutches, Kageyama steadying him as they went.

Daichi spoke with the other captains as the team stood behind them. Karasuno was an intimidating group of boys even with the small fiery haired boy on crutches. They had mastered their scary looks, all except Tanaka who still looked like he was trying too hard and slightly constipated. They all glared until they noticed someone they enjoyed talking to. Then it was polite smiles and excited little waves from some of them, Tanaka greeting Yamamoto loudly.

“Hello Shoyou.” Kenma looked up from his PSP long enough to say hello and give Hinata a small smile before he was bombarded by others asking how he was doing and telling him how glad they were to see him again.

“We honestly thought you were gonna die there for a bit.” Bokuto told him as Akkashi sighed and gave Bokuto a look.

Hinata laughed. “That’s okay, I did too.”

“How are your legs? And your back?” Kuroo asked as he came over with the rest of the Nekoma team.

“Both are better but I really wish they’d heal faster so I could get back to-” Hinata’s crutch slipped as he tapped it on the ground in hyperactivity, “Playing.” he finished.

“You need to stop doing that Dumbass.” Kageyama grumbled as he righted Hinata’s left crutch.

“I can’t help it!” Hinata said defensively.

“Dumbass.” Kageyama grumbled again as he shouldered the bag that had been hanging from his hand. He had Hinata’s as well and carried it as they all went to put their things away.

* * *

Later that day Hinata cheered with Yachi as the others trained. He landed on his butt a couple times and once had forgotten he had taken off his crutches to rub his arms and stood up, causing him to yelp in pain. He was very clearly not ready to put his full weight on his legs yet, Kageyama calling him a dumbass as Hinata sat back down.

At dinner Hinata again spoke with his friends from other teams, Akkashi calling across the room for Bokuto to “put the crippled down”. Bokuto looked appalled but Hinata didn’t mind the term till it ended up being his nickname for the rest of the night. Akkashi apologized for the other’s behavior but Hinata insisted it was fine with him.

“Sit down Dumbass you’re going to wear yourself out.” Kageyama said as Hinata limped around the gym. Bokuto, Akkashi, Tsukkishima, Lev, and Kuroo practiced as Hinata did his little excitedly crutching around thing and watched. Kageyama had entered through the doors and seen Hinata, immediately thinking he was overworking himself.

“Don’t make me call Hana and tell her you’re overexerting yourself.” Hinata almost dropped on the spot, quickly taking a seat on the closest bench.

“Gah! Don’t call Hana, she’s so mean to me!” Hinata whined and gave Kageyama a pleading look.

“Who’s Hana?” Bokuto asked, the look on his face mimicking that of a confused bird.

“His nurse.” Koruu said.

“Who’s also his cousin.” Lev added.

Bokuto laughed and Hinata pouted, looking like a sad puppy as he sat with his crutches beside him. Kageyama felt his cheeks heat up and quickly looked the other way, hoping no one had seen.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm getting used to being terrible at writing. 
> 
> Hope you liked this chapter, ima try to add way more Kagehina in the next one whenever that is lmao. 
> 
> Thanks for reading!<3


	12. No More

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .....
> 
> I actually have no excuse for not writing other than forgetting about it. My anxiety makes it hard for me to remember when I'm supposed to be working on something and hard for me to pick it back up when I'm afraid no one cares about it anymore.
> 
> Anyway, sorry for taking literally months to write this. I hope you guys don't hate me for this.
> 
> Enjoy!

_Hinata saw the little green ball before his mother did. The dog saw his ball before he saw the car. The little girl saw her dog before she saw the car. Hinata yelled and felt the car jerk as his mother swerved to miss all three of them. Hinata remembered seeing the scared look on the little girl's face and feeling sorry for her before his head was filled with the awful sound of metal being crushed, glass shattering, and wood snapping._

_Then he was sucked into the cool pool of unconsciousness. He felt himself shiver before everything went black. He couldn't feel anything but he knew the pain was there. It crept up on him slowly like storm clouds over the horizon. Each little movement sent a new wave of pain through him. It was worse than it had been in real life and he wondered if it had been a dream the first time. This was the real thing and this time he wasn't waking up. Mixed with the pain were words, voices, taunts._

_It was his friends, yelling at him. He had let them down and they were not happy. They made fun of him, chastised him, insulted him. He felt every word sink down into his bones, almost as painful as the crash. This time he didn't wake in the ambulance. He stayed in that awful unconsciousness and listened to the things around him. First it was the doctors.They spoke of paralysis and lung failure and eventually they said death, because it was inevitable._

_Then they disappeared and he heard his mother sobbing, not saying anything to anyone, just sobbing. He felt his heart crack and splinter at the awful sound. She had already lost her husband and now she was going to lose her son. Hinata didn't want to leave Natsu and his mother but he couldn't force himself to wake up._

_After his mother had gone it was Kageyama. At first he was reminding him he had let him down. Then his insults turned to whimpers and suddenly a hand was in Hinata's, Kageyama's forehead pressed to his as Kageyama cried. "Please don't die!" he called out as tears ran down his face. He squeezed Hinata's hand and Hinata wanted to squeeze it back but he couldn't. "Don't die Hinata! I need you! I love you!"_

_To Hinata's horror, the sobs turned to screams of fear and he saw the crash again but this time it was Kageyama and his mother in the car. Kageyama's mother crying over her child and Kageyama lying half dead in the bed. This time it was Kageyama who went in for more surgeries than any child should ever have to endure._ This is what you wanted isn't it? _asked a voice in his head._ You can play now. Look at you you're as fit as you were before.

_"No no no!" Hinata yelled. He screamed as he ran to Kageyama's side. "Don't die! Don't die! Don't die! Please! Take me not him! Not him!" he cried out as a wave of emotions came over him. Terror, sorrow, anxiety. He cried harder than he probably ever had. "No!" his eyes went wide as the monitor began to buzz, a line drawing where it was supposed to show Kageyama's heart rate._

_As if time had been sped up he watched Kageyama whither away and decay, like a corpse in a grave. He screamed again and tried to back away but he was stuck in his spot, even as the voice in his head whispered_ Happy? Now you can go to Nationals. There are other setters, after all.  _The last thing he saw was Kageyama's mother. She sat sobbing in one of the hospital chairs, hands pressed to her face._

_"He's dead. He's dead." she mumbled and Hinata couldn't help but scream. He turned back to Kageyama but the bed was empty._

Pressure on his shoulders was what woke him up, people yelling was what made him realize he was with his team. He stopped moving and went still as he clenched his eyes shut again and tried to calm himself. He had been dreaming. He wasn't dead nor was Kageyama.

"It looked so real." he whispered and felt more tears trickling down his cheeks. "It  _felt_ so real." he added. When he opened his eyes he saw his team leaning over him, Nekoma and Fukurodani standing behind them. Ennoshita had his hands pressed to Hinata's shoulders looking worried.

"Are you okay Hinata?" Daichi asked. He began to nod when more tears filled his eyes and instead he pressed the heels of his hands to his eyes and tried to swallow his sobs, biting hard on his lip.

"You were having a nightmare right?" Nishinoya asked. This time he did nod. "You started to whimper and we thought it might be your legs but then you began to thrash around and scream. It took a while to wake you up." Hinata saw his little episode had gained quite an audience and felt like crying harder.

Someone pushed him into a sitting position and pulled his hands away from his face. His vision was blurry but he could tell it was Kageyama in front of him. He held out Hinata's medicine and a plastic water bottle. Hinata took both in trembling hands and downed the pills with the water. It felt like ice in his throat.

"You were d-dead." he rasped out as he rubbed at the tears on his face. Kageyama sat down next to him and put an arm around him, letting Hinata press his forehead to Kageyama's shoulder. "I was dead but then you were dead and there was this voice saying things like 'Now you can play' and 'There are other setters' and 'This is what you wanted isn't it' but it's not what I wanted and it was so terrible."

Kageyama pet his hair and did his best to soothe him. The medicine began to set in and the pain started to melt away. He calmed his breathing and wiped the last of his tears from his face. "I'm sorry I woke you all up." Hinata mumbled. He began to rant about how sorry he was when suddenly there was something pressed to his lips shutting him up. It took him barely a second to realize it was Kageyama's lips. Without thinking he kissed him back before gasping, remembering they were surrounded by their friends.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: I wrote half of this chapter before realizing i was typing in fucKING FRENCH INSTEAD OF ENGLISH!!!1!!!
> 
> So yea had to go back and change that lmao. Hope you enjoyed, I'll do my best to start updating again.
> 
> Thanks!<3


	13. Kissings

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay another one!

Everyone was expecting it, just as Nishinoya had said. It didn't make it any less embarrassing when those around them began to hoot and holler though. Kageyama couldn't help holding the kiss for just a few seconds longer.   
  
He had gone to the bathroom late that night and when he came back he heard a small whimpering noise. Realizing it was Hinata he shook Daichi awake and asked what he should do. Hana usually handled it when Hinata woke up in pain. They spoke quietly for a moment, Suga rolling over to listen. The whimpers got louder as they conversed and before Kageyama even got the chance to stand up and make his way to his friend Hinata was screaming. Kageyama stood in stunned silence for a moment before rushing over.

The rest of the room was awake within seconds, all coming over to see what was wrong. Hinata had begun to thrash, rolling from one side to another. He gripped the sheet that covered him, his screams filling the room as other people came running in. 

“Wake him up!” Someone yelled as Kageyama dropped down next to him. Ennoshita did the same and put his hands on Hinata’s shoulders, trying to hold down the boy. He had tears running down his face and the screams became guttural. 

“Get my bag.” Kageyama called and a moment later felt someone drop it beside him. He dug around for a second before pulling out a baggy. Inside was a couple of pill bottles. One bottle was for pain, one was to strengthen his immune system after living off liquids for several weeks, one was to fight off infection from all the stitches and holes in him, and one was to relax him and calm his muscles. He usually took the last one before bed but he and Kageyama had both forgotten. 

Everywhere around him people were yelling and moving and trying to wake the screaming boy and so much was going on Kageyama could barely concentrate, counting the pills in his hand three or four times before he was sure it was the right amount of each. When they got him awake Kageyama heard people talking to him and saw Hinata begin to cry harder. The nightmare seemed to have shaken him badly, his body trembling and shivering like he had been dropped in the snow. 

Gently, Kageyama pulled him into a sitting position and pried his hands from his face. He held out the medicine and a water bottle he had stashed in his bag and Hinata took them gratefully. He downed the pills easily. Kageyama sat beside him comfortingly, listening to him chatter about the nightmare. It sounded as traumatic as his had been.

Kageyama felt like a hand was gripping his chest and refused to listen to Hinata's apologize for waking them up when he was the one that had been suffering. In an attempt to shut him up he kissed him. They'd kissed before and Hinata didn't hesitate to kiss him back. It lasted only a couple seconds, both boys realizing they had quite the crowd. It wasn't just them in the hospital, it was nearly three teams worth of boys packed into one room. 

As soon as they pulled away both boys buried their faces in their hands and listened with cheeks bright red as the people around them roared. There was high fiving and whistling and laughter and boys cheering and clapping. Kageyama’s face was so red he was sure he resembled a tomato, or more likely a Nekoma jersey. 

He didn’t regret it though. He’d never regret kissing Hinata.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've said this before but I can never tell if I'm being predictable or not...
> 
> I'm not even sure this was all that interesting...
> 
> Any whooo! I hope you enjoyed this really short and probably boring chapter!<3


End file.
